


Numbers

by Selbel



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Accountants, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Bard has frequent meltdowns, Bard is a dedicated worker, Businessman AU, CEO thranduil, Chapter 8: Bard questions his feelings for Thranduil and he gets an unexpected offer, M/M, Mirkwood accounting firm, More tags will be added later on, Swearing, Thranduil is rude to everyone but Bard, also brief descriptions of therapy, also briefly mentions car accident, brief descriptions of vomiting, chapter 3 contains sick kids, chapter 4 has sick bard, chapter 5 and 6 Sick Bard!, chapter 7: family dinner, little bit of violence, mentions of Bards wife, mentions of depression, seriously Thranduil is so nice to Bard, stressed bard and chill Thranduil, worker Bard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3722362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selbel/pseuds/Selbel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Thranduil is CEO of Mirkwood accounting firm and Bard is a dedicated worker. Bard struggles to look after his three kids and work full time, leaving him no time to meet anyone. But when he one day runs into his boss, things change. (Very bad summary, I'm sorry about that_</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

This was a bad day. No this was a really bad day. Like a really, very, horrible, annoying, frustrating, bad day. First his car decided to stop working. That was bad. Then he had to walk to work, on a very hot day, whilst he was dripping in sweat and had to pull his dark, shoulder length hair in a bun so it didn’t stick to his neck as he huffed and puffed his way to work. It wasn’t a short walk either, it was like an hour walk. Which it turn made him late, which then made him get yelled at his boss in front of the employees. Not fun. His face, already red from walking, turned even redder and he had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom to wash his face and cool down. It wouldn’t do well to yell at his boss, ‘the master”, as he was already walking on thin ice. Seriously, he had to stop arguing back. His day got even worse when he ran into the CEO of Mirkwood. Seriously, he ran into him, crashing to the floor and landing painfully on his elbow. Thranduil, his gorgeous long blonde hair that was in a single plait down his back, was standing as tall as ever, staring down at Bard with something close to amusement in his eyes. Bard groaned. This was not his day. At all. 

Bard cursed under his breath and attempted to get up. Attempted to get up being the key word. He fucking slipped and fell down again, making a complete fool of himself in front of the big, bad boss that was just staring at him with those piercing blue eyes. Bard closed his eyes. He was going to get fired. ‘The master’ wanted him gone and now this was the final straw, he was a goner. Everyone constantly talked about Thranduil and how he was ruthless when it came to his workers. The man literally had no fucks to give, as he was head of the company and filthy rich. 

Bard was quickly mistaken as the man finally took pity on him and reached out toward him with his soft, manicured hand, waiting patiently for Bard to stop gaping like a fish and take the help he needed. Thranduil’s hand was surprisingly warm and the man himself was so warm and giant looking and oh God, he was looking at Bard with his head tilted to the side, like he was critically analysing him. Shit. 

“Are you okay?”¸ Thranduil’s voice was barely above a whisper, but yet Bard heard it perfectly well. 

He stuttered, “I, uh, ye, well yes I’m fine. Thank you for asking”

Thranduil raised an eyebrow, those perfectly sculptured eyebrows, “you look quite flustered”

“That would be because it’s very hot in here”

“Oh?”, the CEO questioned, “and it has nothing to do with the fact that the, what do they call him, the master, yelled at you?” 

Bard’s mouth hung open for a good minute, before he regained what little composure he had left. “I uh, well you see I had some car troubles this morning and had to walk to work and well, I was an hour late” Bard let his eyes drift to the floor, taking in the white tiled floor that was in great condition. Really, how did the cleaners get it looking so white? 

“And this idiot yelled at you for that?” 

Bard flinched at the tone of voice that Thranduil was using. Its deep resonance echoing around the bathroom. He had heard that tone before, and it was often before he got yelled at for doing something that was completely out of his hands. Like, someone not answering their bloody phones. 

The father of three was snapped out of his reverie when a gentle hand touched his elbow and he flinched slightly. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was bruised. “Want to know something funny?” 

“What?”, came the inquisitive tone of Bard. 

“I actually came down here to fire ‘the master’ in front of everyone. Honestly who even calls themselves that?”

Bards first smile for the day was at those magical words. “Surely not?”

“I’m being completely serious. Incompetent fools such as him need to get the hell out of my company”

“Well, Sir, I think you’re making the right decision there” 

Thranduil raised his eyebrow and smirked. 

/

That was how Bard found himself, ten minutes later, standing in a group with his fellow workers watching the master get yelled at by the big, bad boss. Thranduil's tall, but elegant frame was towering over the master, who was attempting to curl in on himself. 

“You are nothing but a fool, you are making a mockery of my company and I will refuse to have my company’s reputation ruined by a lazy fool whose bark is worse than his bite. You have abused numerous workers since you have been promoted and I cannot allow this. This accounting firm has been in the headlines for all the right reasons and I refuse to have you ruin my reputation. As of today, you’re attributes are no longer needed to this company. I bid you well for your future endeavors” 

The beautiful man turned away from the cowering ex-worker, his blonde hair whipping the fat man in the face, offering further insult to the pathetic, cowering man. Bard could have sworn that Thranduil offered him a small smile before entering the lift that would take him to the top floor, but he was dehydrated, he could have imagined that. 

The rest of the day turned out to be rather pleasant. Sure, crunching numbers actually wasn’t that interesting, but it was made more enjoyable by the fact that the master wasn’t breathing down his neck and making his life a living hell. He worked efficiently and quickly, doing peoples tax files numbers for tax time. 

On his lunch break he organised a tow-truck to take his car back home – where he would work on it- before ringing his friend Percy to pick up his three wonderful children from school. Sigrid was fifteen and could catch public transport, but the other two, Bain who was ten and Tilda who was seven were too young to catch public transport. Not only that, he just didn't feel comfortable with his children being surrounded by strangers who were much older. He was protective of his children as every parent should be. Once assured that his children would have a ride home, he went back to work, running his hands through his dark hair. Strands of hair had fallen out of his bun and had fallen around his face. He had a level of concentration on his face as he worked out how much this particular person should earn back at tax time. 

That night he worked until 6:30 before deciding to leave. Knock of time was 5:00 but he wanted to make up for the hour he missed this morning. He grabbed his shoulder bag and walked outside, the blistering heat making him regret leaving the office. 

For twenty minutes he attempted to hail a taxi. Well, he managed to get one but gave it up for a pregnant lady and her partner. He had no luck after that, trying for half an hour before deciding to walk home before it got dark. With a loud sigh, he hefted his bag on his other shoulder and walked in the direction that he needed to in order to get home. With the hustle and bustle of people around him he hardly noticed someone calling his name. When he turned around he was met with…Thranduil? 

“Walking again, I see?”

“Uh, well yes”

Thranduil smirked, “you should get yourself a reliable car”

Bard chuckled, sounding more nervous than anything else. For seven years he had worked at Mirkwood and not once had he ever had the pleasure of speaking to Thranduil, and now he had spoken to the man, not once, but twice. He should feel honoured that the man even made an attempt to talk to him, but yet he felt anxious instead. He wasn’t the best with social interactions. 

“I should get going before it’s too dark to walk”

“Let me take you home. It’s late and I would rather have my employee come back to work in one piece tomorrow” 

Bard hesitated, before finally giving in. He did want to see his kids tonight after all. “As long as you’re sure”

“Of course” 

With that the two walked to the car-park where Thranduil parked his range-rover and the blonde man drove Bard home. The radio was turned up at a reasonable volume and Bard found himself watching his boss tap his fingers on the steering wheel in beat with the music. Whether Thranduil knew Bard was watching, well, he didn’t say anything but continued to drive. 

It was when Bard got a phone call from Sigrid who was worried about where he was, that the two spoke. Bard talked about his three children who he loved with all his heart and Thranduil talked about his son seventeen year old son Legolas and adopted daughter Tauriel, who was also seventeen. It was evident on the man’s face how much he adored his children and Bard felt privileged that he saw this side of the man. Everyone at the office had talked about how cold and emotionless this man was, but yet here he was, driving him home so he didn’t walk in the dark. Not only that but the man helped him up off the bathroom floor and talked to him like an equal, when they so clearly weren’t. This man was full of surprises. 

When Thranduil pulled up in front of Bard’s old but stylish two story home, he thanked his boss and got out. Smiling all the way as he got to the front door. He noted that Thranduil didn’t drive away until Bard had opened the door and was greeted with hugs from his children. 

/ 

Tilda was the first to go to bed that night, demanding a bed time story. Out of his children she was the one with the most imagination. She adored everything, from princesses to warriors who fought to protect their country. It was because of this that made bed time stories just as enjoyable for Bard as they did the little one. He liked telling the stories and she liked listening. Bain went to bed not long after that, grabbing Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire to read before he fell asleep. Sigrid stayed behind and watched T.V with Bard for a little while. 

“You look a lot more relaxed than I’ve seen you in a while. Weird because the car stuffed up again”

Bard smiled, “aye, work wasn’t too bad today” 

This bad day. No this really bad day. Like really, very, horrible, annoying, frustrating, bad day turned out to be quite a…pleasant day. It was one of the better days he had in a while and that was partly due to Thranduil defying his expectations of being a prick and actually being nice. With a reputation like the one Thranduil had, Bard had no hopes for actually liking the man, but yet he liked him. He was actually a nice guy. Well, when he wanted to be. He vaguely wondered if he would see the man again but doubted it. After all, Thranduil was CEO and Bard was just a worker who worked on the second floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interesting case at work prompts Bard to see Thranduil again. Thranduil drives Bard home again, where a bit of family drama unfolds.

Bard didn’t see Thranduil again for a whole week. Not that he minded as he was far too busy with work, even having to work overtime in attempt to finish. Rivendell, a law firm, had been a faithful client for many years and this year Bard was tasked to go over their financial records. The problem was, well, things simply were not adding up. At first he noticed that ten thousand dollars was missing; he thought maybe he had miscalculated something so he crunched the numbers again. He got exactly the same results. With a frown, he put the paper work aside and continued to work on crunching the numbers. The more he looked into it, the more money went missing. Slowly, he worked out that two-hundred thousand dollars was missing out of the company. That was not good at all. 

With an extremely loud sigh, that got the attention of fellow workers close to him, he gathered the papers up in his arms and went to the elevator. He had to report this immediately before more money went missing. It could have been that there had been false information given from Rivendell to Mirkwood and that it would be solved with just a phone call. But if there was someone who was stealing from the law firm then that would take quite a while to figure out. Bard sincerely hoped it was the former. 

The top floor was…..quiet. To say the least. The second floor was a crowded area with paper flying everywhere and desks that were too small to place anything other than a computer and a file or two. The top floor, well, it was where the best of the best worked with offices larger than Bards house and windows that showed the view of the entire city. There were three receptionist, all wearing expensive lady-suits, typing furiously on their keyboard. He looked around the large floor and to his right he saw Thranduil. Sitting in his ridiculously large office and talking on the phone, looking angrier than he had on the day that Bard met him. 

The father of three walked up to the receptionist desk and waited patiently for them to finish what they were doing. He shifted the files in his arms a few times just for something to do. He felt a bit silly standing there in his suit that didn’t cost a fortune, much unlike everyone else’s. 

“How may I help you, dear”, the older lady asked kindly, looking at Bard with kind green eyes. 

“I need to report some inconsistencies I noticed when working on the Rivendell case”

“What kind of inconsistencies?” the lady asked, a small frown appearing. 

“I’ve noticed that a large sum of money is missing and it’s definitely worth looking into” 

The lady, with her greying hair pulled back into a formal bun, picked up the phone and rang Thranduil. Bard flinched when he heard the man yell ‘what’ into the phone. The lady didn’t even flinched, just rolled at her eyes. Bard didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation, not deeming it his place to, but his eyes kept flickering over to the man with the beautiful, silver hair. 

“You can go right in, deary”, the lady told him and he did just that, his feet taking him to Thranduil’s office. 

He paused at the door and waited for the “come in”.   
/   
That was how the two found themselves standing over a bunch of papers on Thranduil’s unnecessarily huge glass table. Who the hell even had a random table in their office anyway? Bard had taken off his suit jacket and placed it on one of the chairs as he poured every fiber of his being into finding out where the two-hundred thousand dollars went. Thranduil, on the other hand, was looking calm and collected. He kept fidgeting though. 

“Where the hell did it have gone? It couldn’t have disappeared into thin air”, Thranduil murmured more to himself than Bard. 

Bard ran his hand through his hair. No. it couldn’t have disappeared. For whatever reason, someone would have stolen it, though it did make them very clever to steal from a company such as Rivendell. It was the most prestige law firm in the city and if news got out that someone, a worker, had stolen from them, they could lose their clients and their credibility. 

“The person stole from workers directly, they would have been taking money for quite a while. Two-hundred thousand dollars going in one hit would draw far too much suspicion. It would have been between last year’s tax-time to now.”

Thranduil made a sound of agreement. “Most of the money has gone missing from partners. If we look at their records we should be able to track down the person who stole. You keep looking, I have to ring Elrond and inform him that someone has stolen from him. It will not be pleasant”

The two ended up working until midnight. Bard had to excuse himself to ring Percy, to pick up his children from school (again). The man didn’t seem to mind too much, so that was a good thing. It wasn’t like he wanted to work this late, but he had to. Thranduil asked him personally to stay back and he couldn’t say no to his boss, and plus, he was the one who found this discrepancy and he wanted to see this through. Not to mention the overtime pay would be incredible. 

/ 

It was dark and quiet once they left the office and Bard let out a loud yawn. His eyes were extremely tired from staring at fine writing all day and his stomach was grumbling unhappily at him, as the both of them forgot to eat. They hadn’t sorted out the issue yet but they were close, just a couple more hours and they would find out where the money went. Bard had insisted that they stay and work on it, but Thranduil took one look at the man and suggested that they both leave. 

“Have you got a ride home?”, Thranduil asked, yawning. 

“No, my car still isn’t fixed yet” 

Thranduil gave him a look that said he wasn’t impressed before indicating that he follow him, which Bard did. He wasn’t going to say no to his boss and plus, he was exceptionally grateful that he didn’t need to wait for a taxi. He was bloody exhausted. These long days were going to be the death of him, or at least Sigrid said so, and he was obliged to agreed with her. 

This time the radio was turned up a little louder and Thranduil was actually humming along to the music. Humming! Who would’ve thought that the man hummed along to songs? There were barely any cars on the road and because of which, everything seemed eerily silent. The hum of the car was very soothing and Bard found his eyes closing of their own accord, until a loud noise scared the shit out of him and a scream tore out of his throat and he jumped in his seat. 

As his heart beat went back to a regular pattern he realized that it was Thranduil’s phone that the noise was emanating from –the bloody ringtone- and now he felt incredibly stupid. The CEO pulled over and answered the call, giving Bard an amused stare.

“Hey Greenleaf, I’ll be home soon. I just left work now. No, no, you and Tauriel go to bed I’ll be home soon. Have you fed the dog? Okay, I’ll see you soon. Goodnight, son” 

Thranduil put the phone back in his pocket, looked at Bard and was silent for a whole minute before he started laughing hysterically. Bard felt himself flush a deep shade of red as he started to laugh sheepishly at himself. 

“You should have seen your face”, Thranduil laughed, “it was priceless!”

“Haha, I’ll bet. So your son was worried about you?”

Thranduil chucked once more before regaining composure and driving once again. “He always worries. Normally when I work over-time I message him, but I forgot today. This bloody case is doing my head in”

“Same here”, agreed Bard, “I just hope tomorrow we can finally get to the bottom of it and be done with it”

“Mmm, I have a feeling I know who took it. We just have to look into their bank statements and we have him”

“Mind sharing who it is?”

Thranduil gave a crooked smile, “I’ll tell you tomorrow but I don’t want to talk about work right now”

Bard smiled kindly, understanding all too well. “So you have a dog?”

“Tauriel picked him out when she was ten. I had just adopted her and she was scared. Legolas was the one who suggested she get a dog”

“Poor thing”, Bard stated sympathetically, “do you know what happened to her parents?”

“Died in a car crash”. Thranduil’s voice was a whisper when he said that.

Bard went silent after that. Memories his of late wife surfacing from the depth of his mind. She had died in a car accident six years ago after coming back from her mother’s, Bain had been in the car with her but had remained remarkably unscathed. His wife, however, had died on impact. A drunk driver crashing in the front of the car. Bard thanked God every day that Bain had been unhurt. He was four at the time and he barely had memories of that day, but still, sometimes nightmares plagued him and for that, Bard had taken them all to family therapy once a month. It was something that helped the kids, and him, to grieve. Those therapy sessions had stopped, although Bain still went and Bard was pleased to hear. If his son needed to talk to someone, he was one hundred percent on board with that. 

“My wife died in a car accident”, Bard admitted a little while later, not exactly sure why he was telling his boss but he just needed to tell someone. 

“I’m very sorry to hear that”, Thranduil replied and Bard could tell that the man was genuinely sorry. “So you raise your three kids all by yourself?”

“Yes, although I do have help from my friend Percy and his wife. They pick them up from school for me when I can’t. Sometimes I take my lunch break at three just so I can pick them up”

“You’re dedicated”

“They’re my entire world”

Thranduil smile reached his beautiful blue eyes, “I can understand that. I don’t know what I would do without Legolas and Tauriel”

They spoke pleasantly for the rest of the drive back to Bard’s house. Getting lost in their conversation and even sat in the car outside Bard’s house for ten minutes. Neither of the two not wanting their conversation to end, but as Thranduil’s phone lit up again, Bard decided it would be a good time to leave. 

“Give me your phone”, Bard demanded of Thranduil, who gave over his iPhone 6+ with a confused look. 

Bard smirked and saved his number. “Message me when you get home, will ya?”

“Okay”

Once again the CEO waited for Bard to enter the house before leaving, and Bard felt himself smiling like a fool. The man truly was full of surprises. He had seen first-hand how cold and condescending Thranduil could be, but he had not been like that to him the two times he saw him. Instead, he talked about his children and dog, and even offered Bard a ride home, not once but twice! This man was full of pleasant and appreciated surprises. 

Loosening his tie, Bard took off his suit jacket and threw it on the worn out leather couch before making his way to the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit to eat. His children must have been sleeping as the house was quieter than ever before. Sitting down at the small, round table in the kitchen, he grabbed out his Samsung S5 – he was a Samsung person himself- and checked his emails whilst eating. 

Bard stretched, deciding to check on his children before going to sleep himself. First, he checked on Bain, whose room he came upon first. The boy was sleeping peacefully and his hair slightly resembled a birds’ nest. Next, he checked Sigrid, who had fallen asleep with her phone in her hand. With a “tut” he took it out of her hand and put it on her bedside table. Kids and their bloody gadgets. Then he checked little Tilda, who had wrapped herself up in her Barbie blankets and was shivering furiously. It was far too hot and humid for her to be cold. With a worried look, he strode over to his youngest and pulled back the blanket a bit and put his hand on her forehead, his worry increasing when it came away hot. 

“Da?”, his little girl asked, sounding so sad that Bard pulled her to his chest and rubbed her back. 

“Da’s here, can you tell me what hurts?”

“Stomach”, she mumbled into his chest. 

Bard pulled her back and settled her onto bed, deciding that he would have to call a doctor to come check on her. There was no way this could wait until morning and it wasn’t too serious as to take her to the emergency room, so it was the next best thing. 

“Da is just going to make a phone call, okay? I’ll be back in a minute”, he told her as he pushed back her hair off her sweaty forehead and went down to the kitchen. 

He called the doctor and made a cup of green-tea for Tilda whilst they waited. As he entered Tilda’s room, he saw her struggling to get off the bed. Dashing to her –while trying not to spill the tea – he finally made it to her in time for her throw-up all over him. Yes, this was going to be an incredibly long fucking night. 

/ 

The next morning brought no good news. Sigrid had fallen ill, and now two out of three children were sick. Fucking fantastic. That meant Bain would have to stay home from school as he would most probably come down with the stomach flu, as the doctor liked to put it. 

“it will go away in three days”, the doctor said, but Bard said fuck the doctor and the way he acted so calm about it. The idiot didn’t know how hard it was to look after two, probably three, children. Fuck him. Fuck this day. Fuck everything. 

Bard barely slept last night and the hour he did sleep was interrupted by Sigrid running into his room crying about how she had thrown up in the hallway and felt too dizzy to clean it up. Of course, he didn’t blame her for it, instead made her lie down with promises that he would clean it up. And now, at 7:30 am, he was making two cups of green tea with a side of dry toast for two sick girls, making porridge for a growing boy, and making a very strong coffee for a very sleepy dad. It was when he finally looked at his phone that he saw the message from Thranduil: 

'Got home safely. Looking forward to bringing this bastard down tomorrow' 

Bard sighed unhappily, he would have to call up school to work and wouldn’t get to find out who had stolen the money. Hesitantly, he called Olga, the lady who had been promoted and replaced the master and told her that he wouldn’t be able to come in for the next three days. She was kind about it and expressed well wishes for his children. Then he texted Thranduil, unsure of what to text. This was the first time texting the man, should he maintain a businessman attitude or a fatherly attitude? After last night’s conversation he was confused. Eventually he settled on remaining professional.

'Hello, it’s Bard here. Unfortunately I am unable to work today as my children have fallen ill. I am sorry I will not be able to work on the Rivendell case. Deepest apologies, Bard.'

Oh God, Bard hid his face in his hands. He sounded like an absolute toss-bag, what the hell would Thranduil think of him now? Before he could pretend like nothing happened, his phone buzzed loudly. 

'Wow, you’re very professional. But in all seriousness, are they okay?'

Bard had literal butterflies right now. This man was too great. Before he could reply Bain walked into the kitchen and smiled, taking his bowl of porridge and devouring it like he hadn’t eaten in years. Bard couldn’t help but smile at that. 

“The food isn’t going anywhere”, he told his son, who simply shrugged and scooped himself some more porridge.

“I’m hungry and Tilda and Sigrid told me to tell you to hurry up”

Bard scrunched up his face. He put their tea and toast on a tray and carried them into his bedroom, where they decided to stay since Sigrid had come in there. Tilda was cuddling her huge teddy-bear that Bard won at the fair for her and Sigrid was curled up on her side, clutching painfully at her stomach. 

“I’ve come bearing gifts”

After they ate, he made his way back downstairs to where his phone lay atop the counter. Thranduil’s message still unanswered. 

'They’ll be fine, I’m sure. Next time you see me, I’m sure I’ll be grey. Haha'

'I don’t doubt that. Is there anything I can do?'

Wow, he replied back insanely fast. 'Not that I can think of. Did you figure out who took the money?'

Barely thirty seconds passed before he got an answer. 'Oh yes, some filthy man named Alfrid. I’m afraid he won’t be able to get a job anytime soon, especially once Elrond is finished with him. No less than he deserves, really'

“DA”, came the cry from Bain and Bard’s groaned filled the kitchen. Actually groaned. All of his children were sick now. 

'Sorry, I won’t be able to talk any more. All my children are now sick'

With that he went to care for his children. It was going to be an exceedingly long three days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments. This story has a mind of its own and I can't stop writing! (Also, does anyone know how the hell to make the font bold on this website?)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard finally fixes his car, takes care of his sick children and hangs out with Thranduil.

The water-pump was finally delivered and Bard could finally start working on his car. Well, when he wasn't looking after his three sick children. Out of all his children, Sigrid had it the worst and the girl who was usually so strong, had started crying numerous of times because the pain. Tilda had given her sister her bear to cuddle and Bain had put on _Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban_ and curled up on his sisters’ right side. They still hadn't moved out of Bard’s bed, all of them finding comfort in it.

It was around eleven in the morning when his children dozed off and Bard finally decided to work on his car. With any luck it would be up and running by the time he got back to work on Monday.  Having worked as a mechanic in his late teens until his mid-twenties, he knew all the tricks of the trade, which was incredibly useful when he had car troubles. Going to a shop to fix the water pump would have costed him far more than it did to just buy the piece online and do it himself.

With eagerness to get his car back on the road, Bard worked on his silver Ford fusion that he had brought second hand just a year prior. Surprisingly, it only took an hour to fix the car, including a quick service whilst he was as it. He wanted to fix it to make sure he would actually be able to drive home from work. Not that he didn’t appreciate Thranduil driving him, because he loved spending time with the man, it was just that it wasn't practical.

Bard wondered what Thranduil would do if his car broke down. He guessed the CEO would just take it to a shop to get fixed, not caring about the cost; he was filthy rich so why would he?

_Why the hell am I even thinking about Thranduil?_ Bard thought to himself as he made his way back inside to wash off the grease that stained his hands. He had liked being a mechanic, but by God, he did not miss the grease. It would always stain his clothes and once it made its way onto clothes, there was no way to get it off.

Bard made some lunch for his children: dry toast with cut up apples. They would probably be starving by now and no amount of stomach pains could stop them from eating. He walked upstairs to his bedroom to find all three of them awake. Tilda was looking a bit better than before, Bain was looking a little worse and Sigrid was the same.

“I brought food”, Bard exclaimed happily and smiled as his children collectively groaned.

“I don’t think I can eat”, Sigrid said miserably, looking a little green.

“You better try, love. Maybe a piece of toast?”

She agreed but only ended up eating half a piece before running off to the toilet to throw up. Tilda ate a piece and some apple before deciding she had enough and Bain, dear Bain, ate the rest of the food. Not even stopping when his stomach grumbled unhappily. Bard was seriously impressed with how much the young lad could put away.

Once the children had fallen asleep again, Bard settled down on the couch and put his hands over his eyes to block out the sun. He was far too lazy to get up and shut the curtains. He must have slept for a long time, because when he woke up next the sun was beginning to set and his phone time said 6:30. He would have slept for longer if it wasn’t for the loud knocking on his door. Grunting, he slowly got off the couch –stretching as he did so- and made his way to the door, only to find the delivery man at the door, holding a basket in one hand.

“This is for you”, he said, giving Bard the basket and walking away back to his van.

Bard frowned in confusion as he made his way back to the kitchen and had a look at what was in the baskets. Packet soups and plush toys, avengers and Barbie ones. It wasn’t until he looked at the card that he really got a surprise. The package was from Thranduil!

_Hope these make the next three days a bit more bearable. Thranduil._

He couldn’t believe it. Thranduil sent him a fucking package. A man that was supposedly an asshole and had sent him a package, because his children were sick? Seriously, how could anyone even remotely dislike this man? He was a bit of a beautiful angel.

With a smile, Bard pulled out his phone. _Just got the basket. The kids will appreciate the toys. Especially Tilda who is obsessed with Barbie._ Bard double checked his message to make sure there was no spelling mistakes. Once he was sure, he got started on dinner –yes, he was making the soup that Thranduil gave him- as he was sure that his kids were starving by now.

He was right. When he walked into his bedroom ten minutes later with three bowls of soup on the tray, he was met with Bain and Tilda saying “finally”, and Sigrid even sitting up to eat. They all ate the soup with gusto, Tilda only stopping to say “this is amazing, Da” before going back to her soup.

That night, Bard put them to sleep in their own beds. Kissing each one of his children on the forehead as he tucked them in with hopes that they would feel a little better tomorrow. Once they were asleep was when Bard gave them the plush toys. It would make them happy when they woke up in the morning. He put the two Barbie ones next to Tilda, who in her sleep, rolled closer to them and grabbed them. He put the Iron-man and Black Widow plush bears with Sigrid as they were her favorite and put the Hulk and Hawkeye ones with Bain. His children were going to be thrilled when they woke up in the morning and it was all thanks to Thranduil.

/

When Bard woke up the next morning he felt stiff and sore and contemplated staying in bed for a little while longer, when Bain walked into his room and flopped down next to him.

“How are you feeling?”, he asked his son, rubbing the back of his head.

His son shrugged, “a little worse than yesterday”

“aye, you have a bit of a fever. Have you drunk any water?”

When Bain shook his head, the father of three got up out of bed –and groaned as his lower back gave a twinge of pain – and headed out of his room. He checked up on Tilda, who was looking a little better, and Sigrid, who wasn’t in as much pain as yesterday, before he headed downstairs to fetch his son some water. When he walked back in his room, he found all his children on his bed again.

/

The next two days were disastrous. The children’s fevers came and went, leaving them exhausted. Bard had been called by his boss, who had asked if he could work from home, which he did after being reassured that he would be getting paid for this. It turned out that his boss wanted him to work out how much the junior partners in Rivendell should be getting back at tax-time. It wasn’t hard at all, but it was just excruciatingly time-consuming and he was exhausted. As well as working he was looking after his sick children, all of whom were exceedingly clingy when they were sick. At one stage he was working on the couch, when Sigrid and Tilda attached themselves to him. Tilda had put her head in his lap and Sigrid was leaning on his shoulder. He had half a mind to tell them to go to their room or at least move over on the couch a little, but he couldn’t do that. He needed a break anyway, so he put down his laptop and wrapped an arm around each of his daughters, smiling even more as Bain sat down at his legs and leaned his head on his knees. His children were far too cute to turn away.

When they went back to their own rooms was when Bard worked some more, totally forgetting to eat lunch. He didn’t think he could eat anyway, the stress of getting this finished was making him nauseous. Bard was snapped out of what he was doing when his phone went off. It was Thranduil.

**_How are the kids?_ **

_Better, they might be able to go back to school tomorrow._

**And how is the dad?**

_Bloody exhausted. Olga asked me to work from home._

**Why couldn’t she get anyone else to do it?**

_Who knows? I mean I’m happy to do it, it’s just looking after sick kids as well working is a bit hard._

**What are you working on?**

_How much the Rivendell junior partners should get back at tax time. I’ve almost finished it._

**…You’ve done all that just today? Jesus Christ, you are good. No wonder why she gave it to you to finish.**

Bard felt himself blush at the compliment. _It’s pretty easy. I think I’m going to need a celebratory drink after finishing this._

**Definitely. How about 9:00 tomorrow?**

Bard’s mouth hung open. The big bad boss wanted to get a drink with him? _That sounds good._ He eventually replied. 

**See you then, Bard.**

With new-found exuberance, Bard went back to finishing his work. His fingers typed quickly enough and within three more hours of working, he had finished. He seemed to flourish at the compliment that Thranduil gave him and the thought of going out to get a drink with Thranduil made him eager for tomorrow to hurry up and arrive.

Bard smiled happily as he sent his work to Olga. He was just happy that it was over and done with and he could get back to looking after his children. Although their health had improved significantly that he didn’t need to coddle them as much as yesterday; he still made sure that they ate things that weren’t bad for their stomach.

By the time his children went to bed, they were looking much better and Sigrid had even insisted that she could go to school tomorrow, which Bard said no to straight away. He wouldn’t risk sending his children off to school only for them to get sick again.

The next day passed quickly enough and he soon found himself opening the front door coming face to face with Thranduil. It was obvious that the CEO had went home before picking Bard up as he was wearing black pants with a t-shirt instead of his suit. Bard was wearing blue jeans with a white t-shirt. 

“May I come inside or am I going to stay outside for the duration of my visit?’

Bard flushed a deep shade of red. “Uh, yes, come in. Sorry, I just have to talk to my kids quickly and then we can go. Make yourself at home”

Thanduil sat on the couch comfortably as Bard, well, kind of ran away. Seeing his boss sitting in his living room made his heart flutter uncontrollably. He looked so comfortable, taking out his phone and playing an app. Gosh, he looked rather handsome.

_Wait, did I just think that about my boss?_

Bard told his children that he would be gone for a couple of hours and to call him if they needed anything. By the time he walked back to Thranduil, he was feeling like a teenage boy about to sneak out of his parent’s house. God, he really needed to get out more. Thranduil offered him a smile as they entered the range rover.

The pub they went to was loud. Like, very loud. It was full of people, some were watching t.v, some were just talking and some were trying to chat other people up. Bard and Thranduil on the other hand, were playing a game of pool.

Bard would like to say he was winning, that he was totally kicking Thranduil’s butt. But in reality, he was losing. Big time. He hadn't ever been any good at this game, but with Thranduil watching him with those piercing eyes, he was even worse. The CEO was leaning on the table, watching Bard with those goddamn eyes and as Bard tried to take his shot, he did very badly and well, the ball fell off the table and rolled onto the floor. Now he was embarrassed.

“Perhaps we should call it quits?”, Thranduil suggested, raising his eyebrow.

Bard sighed, his face heating up. “I’m normally a lot better than this”.

“Maybe it’s the environment in which you’re playing”

This goddamn prick, he was teasing, actually _teasing_ Bard. He couldn’t believe this. If you told him a couple weeks ago that he would be having drinks and playing pool with his boss, he would’ve laughed in your face. If you told him his boss would be making a joke out of him, he would have passed out from laughing so much. Yet here he was. Unsuccessfully playing pool with his boss.

“Maybe I could help”, Thranduil suggested, making a move to get closer to Bard, but the worker shook his head.

“I think I’ve had enough”, he murmured quietly.

“Well, how about another drink?” Thranduil suggested.

“Sure”

Five-beers later, Bard was a bit tipsy. He hadn’t intended on drinking this much, but his boss made him equally distressed and hot, that he had to drink his way through it. Yet, no matter how uncomfortable he felt around his boss, he found he didn’t want to be away from him. It was a weird feeling.

“Bard, are you feeling okay?”, Thranduil asked with genuine concern.

“aye, I’m fine”

Thranduil frowned, like he knew Bard was lying, but he didn’t say anything else about Bard’s mood so that was a plus. “There’s this work function next weekend”, Thranduil eventually said, breaking up the silence. “Elrond is going to be there and he would like to meet you”

“Why”, Bard replied impulsively.

“Something about personally wanting to thank you for finding the discrepancy”

“It wasn’t really that big of a deal”

“He thinks it is, and I must say, I agree. His law firm is constantly in the media, if word got out about someone stealing from them, it could have cost them a lot, and if you didn’t find the discrepancy and report it, the thief could have stolen more money. Stop being modest and accept the fact that you did a great job”

“I, uh, well, uh, thanks”

Bard’s hair fell around his face as he looked around the bar. It was close to midnight now and people were starting to leave. Although there were still a few drunk-men, making life a living hell for security guards who didn’t get paid enough for the hassle.

“Should we go?”, Thranduil asked, looking intently at Bard.

“Aye, my children would be wondering where I’m off to”

With that they walked out the bar, Thranduil offered an arm to Bard as he was a bit unsteady on his feet. He was a lightweight, so what? He hadn’t drunk in a very long time.

“your kids”, Bard said once they were in the car. Thranduil hadn’t drunk as much as Bard so he was still good to drive. “Do they drive?”

“…yes?”

“Sigrid starts driving soon”

Thranduil chuckled, “is that a bad thing?”

“Well no, it just means I need to buy her a bloody car. I don’t even know what car to buy her.”

“I’m sure you will figure it out”

“Help me”, Bard stated.

“Sure thing”

Both fell into a peaceful silence after that, Bard half-dozing and Thranduil concentrating on driving. The radio wasn’t on this time and it made Bard a little nostalgic. He quite liked it when Thranduil hummed along to the radio and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of the car.

“Do you want to come in for coffee?”, Bard asked once they stopped in front of his house. As tired as he was, he just wanted to be in the company of Thranduil.

“Coffee would be good”

Bard didn’t know how it happened. One minute they were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking their coffee and having a conversation about their kids (Legolas and Tauriel were at their friend’s house for the night) and then the next, they were on the couch watching a movie. Thranduil fell asleep first, his long legs stretched out on the small table in front of the couch, and Bard, who was far too tired to get up and go to his bed, fell asleep as well. If he was sleeping at the end of the couch, or curling up into Thranduil’s side, well he wouldn't say.

However, the next morning Sigrid found Bard curled up into Thranduil, whilst the blonde man had a secure arm around him. It was needless to say Sigrid walked back up to her room and pretended not see anything. Although, she wore a small smile on her face for a good half of an hour.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not one of my better chapters, but no matter how many times I re-wrote it, it wasn't working out. Sincerely sorry for how bad it was, but hopefully the next chapter will be much better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard manages to get punched, land two clients for the company and get sick all within a week. All the while trying to understand his feelings for Thranduil.

It was Monday and Bard was too tired to work. He kept day dreaming about Saturday morning, when he woke up and Thranduil had his arm wrapped around him and the way he smelt, _oh God,_ he smelt so bloody amazing. Although, he did feel embarrassed once Thranduil woke up to find the father of three freaking out about how amazing he smelt. Thranduil didn’t mind though and he even kissed Bard on the cheek before he left. The man was so careful and old school it made Bard’s heart flutter. And he was so polite as well, apologising for the inconvenience of sleeping on his couch, as if Bard was actually upset about it. If anything, he wanted Thranduil to stay even longer. He greatly enjoyed being in the man’s company.

“Bard Bowman!”, said an impatient voice that cut off Bard daydream about Thranduil. 

The worker looked up from his computer screen to see a security guard holding back a man. This man literally had one eyebrow and was wearing shabby black clothes and he wore a look of pure anger on his face. Bard took a moment to take in his appearance. If Thranduil was present he would have at least snickered at the man’s attire, but Bard wasn’t Thranduil. No, he was a good person who gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. So it was with that thought in mind that he got up from his well-used, office chair, smoothed out his shirt and went over to the man.

He had planned to formally introduce himself, maybe shake the man’s hand if he allowed it and maybe discussed what it was that Bard supposedly did for this man to want to beat the shit out of him. The only thing he could think of was that maybe he had cut him off at an intersection. He was ashamed to admit that he had the tendency to do that when he was in a hurry to get to work.

Daydream and reality were completely two different things. As Bard approached, the man somehow got away from the security guard and ran toward Bard. Now Bard was expecting two things to happen: a) the man was going to tackle him to the ground or b) the man was just really enthusiastic and wanted to give Bard a hug. Of course, neither of these things happened. One minute he was standing with his hands outright to try and calm the man down and the next minute he was hunched over holding the side of his face.

There was the three seconds of clarity. In the first second, Bard tried to process what just happened, in the second he finally processed what happened and anger coursed through his body and in the third second, well, Bard wanted to fight back. And he would have, except for his bloody fellow workers holding him back and telling him to chill. _Chill. How could he fucking chill?_ This idiot just hit him for no reason.

It was only when the security guard finally got a hold of the crazy idiot did Bard calm down. He was led to his chair, where a man named Timothy kept a hand on his chest to prevent him from getting up. It wasn’t like Bard would fight back now. The officials had been notified and they were on the way. They could deal with the idiot.

Five minutes later found Bard holding an ice-pack to his cheek that was bruised and well, at least double the size than normal. The police had handcuffed the idiot to a table and were talking to Thranduil, who kept sparing glances over at Bard. Bard smiled at him which earned him a frown. Okay, he would not be doing that again.

Eventually an officer -who was in his fifties- and Thranduil walked over to him. Thranduil looked like he desperately wanted to punch something and someone and the police officer looked calm, like he had done this before. Which, you know, he probably had.

“Bard, are you alright?”, Thranduil asked with a slight waver to his voice.

“yes”

They didn’t get a chance to speak after that as the police officer started talking to Bard, asking for his statement of what happened and whether he would be pressing charges. Which Bard said no to. It was just another stress that he didn’t care for. However, he did find out that the man was named Alfrid –the police officer wouldn’t give Bard his last name as it was a security concern – and that he wasn’t allowed anywhere near Mirkwood industries for six months. That was nice to know.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”, asked Thranduil as looked at Bard’s bruised cheek. “That looks quite painful”

The fact that Thranduil was kneeling infront of Bard looking at his cheek was drawing the attention of the other workers. Bard cleared his throat. Thranduil got the message and stood up to his full height.

“I do believe I am paying you to work, not dawdle and gossip”, he said with a voice that radiated power. “Not you”, he whispered to Bard as the man started to go back to his desk. “You’re coming with me”.

That was how Bard ended up in Thranduil’s car again. For the third time. This time Thranduil had the radio on quietly, though he wasn’t paying much attention to it. Instead he was throwing worried side glances at Bard and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

“I’m not dying”

“I know”

“Well then stop being so worried”

“You’re hurt”, Thranduil stated simply and Bard simply groaned.

“Yes, only a little bit. It normally happens when one gets punched in the face. Can you stop acting so sketchy?”

There was a sudden intake of breathe and then “okay”

“Okay”, agreed Bard.

/

Bard had sprawled out on his couch with his hand over his eyes. The T.V was on and Thranduil could be heard talking in the kitchen, presumably on the phone again. Thranduil had driven him back home and made him rest, apparently worried about him, no matter how many times Bard had said he was fine. The CEO wouldn’t even leave him alone as he wondered around the house and conducted business from his phone. Thranduil would pause whenever he would come across photo’s that littered Bard’s walls. The notion of Thranduil stopping to look at his photo’s brought a small smile to Bard’s face, but flinching as it made his already swollen cheek sting with pain.

This Alfrid tool sure got lucky with his punch.

“Your children have to be picked up in three hours and I don’t think you should drive”, Thranduil said as he walked into the lounge room and buttoned up his suit jacket.

“I’ll get Percy to pick 'em up”, Bard said simply. Percy was an older man and had retired from his job as a finance manager, surely he wouldn’t mind.

“Okay, I have to get going. There’s a crisis and I’m needed”

With little effort, Bard sat upright on the couch with every intention of walking the CEO out of his house, however he was stopped mid action of getting up by a hand placed firmly on his chest.

“Maybe you should just stay down”, Thranduil bent down slightly and kissed Bard on the cheek, “I’ll check up on you later”

Bard didn’t move for five minutes after that, the butterflies in his stomach making it near impossible. His cheeks were red and he was sure he looked like a kicked puppy, but the man made him feel things he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to accept those feelings.

/

As a parent, Bard had often told his children off for cursing, especially Sigrid who seemed to develop a potty-mouth in her teenage years. This morning, cursing was allowed. Only for the simple fact that he was failing at covering up the bruise that took up the majority of his cheek.

He didn’t go to work yesterday, Olga had called him and gave him the day off, so he didn’t worry about how ugly it looked. But today, oh boy, he was stressing out about it. Normally, Bard’s appearance didn’t bother too much, but today he was meeting with two clients of small business owners, and well, appearances were everything. Especially in regards to new clients that he had to persuade to let the company manage their finances. It was with a sigh that he knocked on Sigrid’s bedroom door, absolutely regretting everything his very existence.

Ten minutes later, he was staring into the hallway mirror and touching his bruised cheek that was slightly hidden under the mass of foundation that Sigrid smudged on his face. She laughed at him of course, and told Bain and Tilda to get in the room so they could all laugh at him. After lots of sighing and cursing, she finally put the foundation on him, though not without Bain taking Sigrid’s phone to take pictures

“For proof that this actually happened”, Sigrid had said.

“Fuck my life”, was all Bard had said in reply. Because really, he didn’t deserve this.

Getting to work was stressful, okay, people kept cutting him off and yelling at him through their window as if it was his fault they decided to cut him off. By the time he dropped the kids of at Autumnhigh R-12 school (it was a private school that he paid an arm and leg for) he was red in the face and swearing like an idiot. On his way to work, traffic was tremendously bad and Bard had to bite on his tongue to keep a check on his anger. He was definitely going to be late to work and miss his 9:30 meeting with his first client.

By some sweet miracle he made it to work with ten minutes until he was set to meet with his client. He briskly walked into the bathroom to try and tame his appearance. His black hair had fallen out of the neat bun he wore it in and his clothes were dishevelled as if he had just ran a marathon. Without thinking, he pulled off his suit jacket – thankful that he hadn’t sweated through his white shirt – and rolled up his sleeves. Then he pulled his hair back into the respectable bun he was known for and looked at himself probably.

The bruise was _just_ noticeable under the makeup, his bags under his eyes weren’t too bad considering his lack of sleep last night –it was too hot to sleep- and his mouth was set in a firm line. He looked as professional as he was going to get, and he decided he could do no more. He only had a few minutes until he met with his client and he desperately needed to sort out his files. If the client saw how unorganized he was they would see him as incompetent and go to a different finance company. He couldn't have that. With that, Bard stood up straight, rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath before walking toward his desk. He was going to get both his clients to sign with Mirkwood, he could feel it. 

The first client was a young lady named Zola. She was a pretty thing, and had a smile that could light up the room, so when Bard suggested that he take her for coffee to discuss the finances, she blushed and nodded enthusiastically. Within an hour, he had gotten her to sign the deal and for that, he brought her another coffee. The next client however was not impressed with Bard. She was a woman in her forties who looked bored whenever Bard spoke. When he offered that they go elsewhere, she shut him down. It took two hours to get her to sign the deal and when she left, he breathed a sigh of relief. She had been brutal.

By the time it was afternoon, Bard was feeling proud of himself and had a smirk on his face. He just signed two clients for the company and had finished three reports he had failed to do because of the time he had off last week. His smile, however, was completely wiped off his face when he got a message from Thranduil:

**Come to my office, right now**

Bard didn’t know what he was expecting, maybe he was getting fired or in trouble for all the time he took off, maybe he was going to get yelled at for googling non-work related things. He did spend at least an hour a day searching for what to buy a seven-soon to be eight year old – for her birthday. When he was approached Thranduil’s office, he was definitely surprised to say the least.

The CEO smiled brightly when Bard walked into his office. “You are good”

Bard frowned, “Sir?”

“You just got two clients to sign with Mirkwood, congratulations Mr. Bowman. You are officially the best worker we have”

Bard flushed, his mouth hanging open unattractively.

“Surely you realize what an achievement this is?”

“Uh”, Bard scratched his head, “well, I was just doing my job”

“And you are mighty fine at it indeed”, Thranduil sat behind his desk and gestured for Bard to have a seat. “The work function this weekend, I need you to be there”. At Bards confused look, Thranduil continued. “Have you heard of Arkenstone?”

Bard nodded, of course he heard of the Arkenstone. It was the second biggest law firm in the state and was owned by Thorin Oakenshield.

“I want Mirkwood to manage their accounts, but I need to persuade him. Unfortunately, Thorin and I do not see eye to eye. However, I do believe if you were the one to speak to him, he might be convinced”

“How come you want to sign Arkenstone for? From what I’ve heard recently, they’re losing their credibility”

Thranduil wasn’t impressed, “Bard, I need you on this one”.

It was said so softly that Bard almost didn’t hear it. “Okay”. 

/

The rest of the week went by rather slowly. Bard did his job, looked after his children and managed to go for a jog twice before he started to feel rather ill. It started out as feeling nauseous. Then came the headaches that worsened the longer he stared at his computer screen. By Friday, he had a nasty flu that left him unable to breathe. The fact that he was sick wasn’t surprising. He and Thranduil had been working immensely hard all week, Bard even more so as the moment he came home, he went over the notes that Thranduil had given him. The notes went over Arkenstone’s financial history and how much the partners earned. Everything was in order, but still Bard was stressed. As well as working, he was cooking for his kid’s and taking them to their soccer training and it was all becoming too much.

With work taking up his Saturday day and night, he decided to call the kid’s grandparents and ask if they wanted to look after them for the week. He felt horrible not being able to juggle both, but he needed to focus on work this weekend otherwise he would let down his boss and….friend. With the kids getting picked up on Saturday morning, Bard felt as though a light weight had been lifted off his chest.

The night before the big party, Bard didn’t sleep. He was too hot one minute, then too cold. His mind kept going over what he practiced for days. How to get Thorin Oakenshield to agree to the terms. The more Bard thought about it the bigger his headache got. His stomach had grumbled for food the past two days, but Bard couldn’t bring himself to eat. He felt far too sick and nauseous. Bard had contemplated going to the doctors – at his children’s request- but he decided against it. After the party he would see the doctor, he just had to make it through the next day.

Saturday morning Bard wasn’t any better, in fact he felt worse. He was pale and his fingers trembled as they tried to grasp onto the wall in attempt to steady himself. Eventually, his head cleared a little and he walked to the kitchen with shaky legs, where he found his children. Sigrid and Tilda were at the stove and Bain was at the table, eating bacon and eggs. The smell alone made Bard want to vomit.

“Da, you look sick", Bain said immediately, his voice unusually serious for an eleven year old. 

Bard cleared his throat, “I’m fine”, he smiled tiredly at his son. He was sure he looked like hell, but after a cup of coffee and a bite to eat he would be fine. He hoped. Thranduil was picking him up at midday (whilst his kids would be getting picked up within an hour) so they could go over their files and he didn’t want to disappoint his boss. 

“Da, you need to take care of yourself”, Sigrid told him sternly as he sat down. Tilda took the opportunity to sit on his lap to give him a hug, which he gladly returned.

“Are you okay”, Tilda asked, blinking at him with those innocent eyes.

Bard forced a smile on his face for the sake of his youngest, “of course! Da is just a little tired”

“Maybe you should sleep more”, his youngest said so seriously that Bard threw his head back and laughed.

“Have you guys packed?”, he asked a bit out of breath from laughing. He really should have gone to the doctor. Bain and Tilda nodded their heads enthusiastically whilst Sigrid was all of a sudden engrossed in making toast. “Your grandmother is going to be here soon, Sigrid. Go and pack after breakfast”

Sigrid rolled her eyes. “Whatever”

 

When the _all_ the kids had finally packed and were waiting patiently in the lounge room was when Bard pulled Bain aside. Bard knew how his son felt about being in the car for longer than half-hour.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”, he asked his son seriously, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Bain offered a small smile, “Yep”

“I’m only a phone call away if you need”.

“I’ll be okay. I have my book with me”

Bard chuckled and pulled his son in for a hug. “Love you”

“Ew”, Bain simply said and Bard rolled his eyes dramatically. Kids and their ability to say “I love you” back to their parents was a constant amusement for Bard.

After kissing each of his children on the forehead and sending them off with their grandmother, Bard didn’t have time to do much of anything before Thranduil came to pick him up. By the time Thranduil had come to pick him up, he had exactly two coughing fits and one dizzy spell that nearly made him fall over.

His friend greeted him with a smile, one that Bard couldn’t force himself to copy with how bad he was feeling. If Thranduil noticed anything was awry he didn’t say anything, but he did make light conversation as he drove to his house, where the function would also be held.

Bard had expected to meet Thranduil’s children but was told that they were at a friend’s house. ‘Probably getting drunk’, Thranduil had said with the tone of voice that said he would be angry if they had in fact, been drinking. The CEO’s house was large and quite intimidating. It was modern and spacious, and didn’t have much color to it except for the floor boards in the large entertaining room, that had a large window to see the large backyard. Bard was envious at the fact that Thranduil had a pool. He had always wanted one but found he could not spare enough money to buy one without dipping into his savings; which he would never do. His savings were for his kid’s future.

As the day wore on, Bard felt worse. A few times he had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom and wipe off the sweat from his face. He looked pale and the bags under his eyes were more prominent than usual. _Great, he was going to look like a complete mess._ By the time he walked back into the study after leaving to have a coughing fit for the third time, Thranduil completely put down his pen and looked sternly at Bard.

“You look unwell”, the man stated, his brows drawn close together.

“I’m fine”, Bard dismissed immediately, ignoring the lingering stare that Thranduil gave him. He wasn’t fine, but for tonight, he would have to pretend.

/

Thorin Oakenshield truly hated Thranduil. More than hated, despised, l _oathed,_ would be a better description. Bard didn’t know why and nor did he want to ask. He was too scarred that he would get punched in the face by Thorin if he did. Seriously, the man was quite frightening for a man who was quite a bit shorter than Bard. It didn’t help Bard’s nerves that Thranduil kept looming over both Bard and Thorin, anxiously fiddling with his suit as he listened in with what Bard was saying. The CEO only left when Bard started coughing and asked for some water. His coughing fit was a blessing in disguise.

“Tell me”, Thorin said once Thranduil had left, “why should I have my company’s money financed by Mirkwood?”. Thorin's annoyance was clear with every word that he said.

“For starters, aligning yourself with Mirkwood would definitely make a better image for your company. Not to mention, Mirkwood is the best financing company in the state”, his voice cracked on the last word and Bard had to take a moment to clear his throat, much to the annoyance of Thorin. “Mirkwood also works closely with Rivendell and a few weeks ago we found a discrepancy that could have proven very bad. Now, forgive me if I’m wrong, but didn’t your finance manager set up an account to steal from you?”

Thorin visibly paled, “how did you find that out?”

“Research”

“More like stalking”, Thorin said gruffly.

“Mirkwood doesn’t believe in stalking, simply researching as I just said. If we were to manage your accounts the money would be secure and just because you hate Thranduil, you can’t deny that”. Bard was out of breath from talking so much and his head was spinning but still he stood upright and tried his best to get Thorin to agree.

 Thorin fingered his beard, “I also did my research”

“Oh?”

“You were the one that found the discrepancy”, Thorin stayed quiet for a moment, looking carefully at Bard who was trying his very best not to pass out, “I agree with what you said. Arkenstone does need to align itself with Mirkwood”

Bard nodded, “I’m glad you agree”

“However, I have one demand and that is that you are the main accountant”

Bard’s mouth fell open. That one was unexpected and Bard didn’t know if he had the authority to agree to those terms. For fuck sakes, he was just a lowly worker, not some high-up supervisor or boss. He had to talk discuss it with Thranduil first, who was the only one with the authority to agree to this.

“I assume you will get back to me within the week. Those are my terms and if it is that important to Mirkwood, you will agree”.

Thorin left, leaving a gobsmacked Bard standing in a crowded room, trying to remember how to breathe.

/

The music, that was a soft melody composed entirely of a piano and violin, was too loud for Bard. There were too many people around, suffocating him and making him want to leave. He was surrounded, he could barely breathe. It felt like a huge weight was upon his chest and he couldn't breathe in too deeply without it causing him immense pain. There was nothing that Bard could hold onto to steady himself. Just when he thought he was going to trip over his own two feet, Thranduil appeared at his side with a flash of blonde hair and grabbed his arm, keeping him upright.

“Bard”, concern laced Thranduil’s voice and somehow made Bard feel worse, “are you alright?”

Bard nodded, not trusting himself to speak for fear that he would give away how he truly felt. Before he knew it, the worker was being led away from the crowd and to the hallway, where it was a little quieter.

It was silent for a few minutes before voices insisted on interrupting his silence. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, for none of his senses were cooperating. It must have been sometime, because when he came to he was on the floor, lying on his side with something soft cushioning his head. Thranduil was leaning over him.

“Can you hear me?”

Lines appeared between Bard’s eyebrows, “of course”, he meant to say but it came out as a mumble, much to his disdain. Thranduil said something else, but Bard didn’t hear. Everything went black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took so long to write, so I'm just glad I could finally post it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard wakes up in hospital and he may have a crush on his boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm really sorry about not updating for a very long time. Uni got a bit busy, then my laptop broke and then I got lazy. I'm really sorry and I'll try to make sure I update more frequently.

The thing about getting sick is that it happens at the most inconvenient times. The worst thing though, is getting sick at a work function, passing out and then waking up in a hospital with your boss sitting next to you, looking at you as though you might die at any given time. There was nothing worse. The embarrassment of having fainted in front of your boss was enough to make any one curl up in a ball, but being genuinely sick and ending up in hospital was, without a doubt, the most embarrassing thing to happen to Bard in a long time.

The first time Bard woke up in hospital was a very dizzying and confusing time. He had woken up to a strange man shining a light in his eyes and a weird feeling in his stomach before he threw up all over said man. He had passed out again, out of choice more than anything. The second time he had woken up was to a soft-speaking voice, quite obviously talking on the phone.

“Yes, he’s quite unwell and will be for a few days”, the voice said. A pause,“yes, perhaps the children should stay with you until he gets back up on his feet. I will inform him when he wakes”.

The only thing he remembered before falling unconscious again was someone smoothing back the hair on his forehead. It was soothing and felt quite good.

The third time he woke up was with perfect clarity. His vision was in focus, and his body didn’t feel as though it had been buried under a pile of bricks. He wasn’t alone either, Thranduil was still beside his bed, though he was focusing on his phone. Bard cleared his throat, getting the attention of his boss.

“Bard”, Thranduil exclaimed, dropping his phone in his lap in surprise.

“Thranduil”, Bard said, though his voice broke and he ended up having a coughing fit. He happily accepted the cup of water from Thranduil.

“Are you alright?”

Bard took a moment to calculate. His head felt a little bit fuzzy and he just didn’t feel right, but he felt better than he had for a few days so that had to count for something.

“A little. Uhhh, so I’m sorry about passing out at the party”

Thranduil leaned forward on his knees, a crease between his brows. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

Bard flushed, from embarrassment or fever he wasn’t sure. “I surely messed things up?”

“Not at all. A few people saw you how ill you were but they didn’t see you passing out, if that’s what you’re worried about?”

“I’m just worried about the image of the company, that’s all”

“Bard, you just woke up from being in a delirious fever for nearly two days. Perhaps you should stop thinking about work”.

A moment of silence passed before Bard spoke again, “my children?”

“Their grandmother agreed to keep them for a few days. Your eldest girl demanded to come down anyway, but I convinced her not to. You need your rest I’m afraid.”

Bard raised his eyebrows, “You spoke to their grandmother and survived to tell the tale?”

“Yes, she’s a bit overly stern isn’t she?”, Thranduil said with a bit of a chuckle.

Bard fell asleep soon after that, the television on as background noise as well as to keep Thranduil busy. But with the way he was vigorously typing away on his phone, Bard guessed t.v was the last thing on his mind.

The next morning Bard woke alone. Thranduil wasn’t a particularly loud man but without him the room was painfully silent. He wasn’t alone for long, however. His doctor, a plump woman with a kind face checked him over. Poking and prodding until Bard felt like telling her to go away.

“A bad case of the stomach flu combined with dehydration and exhaustion is what got you here in the first place. The good news is that you have shown significant improvement since you got here and you should be able to leave tomorrow morning if you improve. However, I suggest you don’t go back to work for two weeks”

Bard internally groaned. That would never happen. Financially speaking he was doing okay, but taking two weeks off was going to set him back. There was no way he could take two weeks off, maybe one at the most, but two weeks was simply unthinkable.

He didn’t think about it for too long, he was too tired.

/

Thranduil came back to the hospital in the late afternoon, looking dashing in his blue suit that complimented his pale complexion rather well. Bard smiled when he saw him, finally looking away from the t.v. All day he had just dozed and watched t.v, it was weird. He wasn’t used to being left alone. On weekdays, he had work and then he went home to a house with three very loud kids. He never had peace and quiet, and now that he did have it, he wasn’t too fond of it.

“How are you feeling?”, Thranduil asked as he took his regular seat beside the bed.

“Much better, the doctor said I might be able to go home tomorrow”.

“And what else did she say?”, Thranduil asked and oh no, Bard had heard that tone plenty of times before, mainly aimed when Thranduil asked an employer a question and already knew the answer.

“t-That I should take two weeks off. But I t-think that was more of a suggestion than anything”. Yep, Bard stuttered. He did that a lot when he was nervous and Thranduil was making him exceedingly nervous, especially with the way he was staring at him.

“As your boss I respect that you want to work. But as your friend I think you should take the two weeks off and rest”

Uhhh, the way Thranduil so caring made Bard agree and no, he most certaintly did not get butterflies at Thranduil calling him a friend. Nope, that was just the sickness.

Thranduil left not too long after, once again leaving Bard alone, although he had far more energy than he had all day so he rang up his children. Sigrid sounded strangely like her grandmother, demanding that they get back as soon as possible so she could look after him. Bain talked about the Harry Potter book he was reading and why it was his favourite book ever, and Tilda discussed the benefits of owning another pack of coloured pencils even though she already had at least two packets. Bard fell asleep with a huge smile on his face that night.

Bard was released the next morning, after being given all this medicine that he didn’t even know how to pronounce. To his surprise however, there was a car waiting for him outside with a driver. Bard was going to question it of course but the driver already seemed to comprehend his unease.

“Thranduil sent me, Sir. He would have liked to come himself but he is held up at a meeting. Where to?”

Just like that Bard went from being uneasy to being completely satisfied. He had seen this man before, he was Thranduil’s assistant and occasional driver. And Thranduil…sent this man to pick him up? He truly did think of everything, didn’t he?

The drive home found Bard smiling like a giddy teenager who had just developed their first crush. The father of three felt something he had not felt for a very long time and it scared as well as excited him. To think he used to be scared of Thranduil just a month ago seemed very ridiculous as the man was very caring. It made Bard want to get close to him, to understand him and talk to him all the time. It seemed a bit silly, having a crush at his age when he had three children to worry about, but here he was, having a crush on his boss. Bard had a feeling that quite possibly Thranduil had feelings for him too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! It was a bit shorter than usual but I just really wanted to post it. I'm already working on the next chapter and that should take a week or so :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard gets better, Thranduil flirts. Typical day really.

Two days alone got Bard thinking a lot about the meaning of life. Basically, in the midst of his existential crisis, Bard came to the conclusion that there were three things in life that took precedence over everything else: Education, Work, Death. These were the three things that without a doubt, everyone did. There were no if’s and but’s about them. Life had the uncanny ability to make everyone live without really _living._ These days, no one had much fun. It was all work until you die, and then when you die your legacy is practically diminished. Everyone forgets about you sooner rather than later. There was also another thing everyone had in common as well: not having fun. You see, Bard worked his ass off since the age of fifteen as a mechanic, then he went to University and got his finance degree, all the while still working because he had and his wife already had a kid. The point is, Bard had never had an easy life. It was just school and work, and now it was children and work. He loved his children, that was for sure, but he didn’t enjoy work as much. He wanted to go on a holiday and enjoy life with his children. He was thirty-five with three kids and had barely travelled. It wasn’t fun.

Maybe it was this thought process that made him do what he did next, or perhaps it was the fever talking, but what he did…well, it would embarrass him when he could think properly. Because Bard, the dad who raised three children and worked his fucking ass off, rang up his boss. That wasn’t it, nope; when his boss didn’t answer, he did something very silly indeed and left a message over the voicemail.

_Beep? Well that was weird, bloody beep thing. Anyway, I just wanted to call you because, well, I’m not sure actually. I was thinking about work and I don’t go on holidays? You know. I’venevertravelledhowawkwardisthat. Uhm, so, these pill things have got me going weird, ya know? I’m just sitting here and having an existential crisis. I’m tired now, I’m going to go. Sorry about this weird thing, oh how I wish I could delete this message right now._

Okay, maybe Bard shouldn’t have done that, but he couldn’t think properly. His head was fuzzy and all he could think about was work and family. He really wanted to go on a holiday, he thought to himself as he slowly fell down to the couch. He was very tired.

Bard woke up to sounds coming from the kitchen. Fear coursed through his veins before he took a deep breath in attempt to control his nerves. If someone was in the house, he would have to keep calm. Bard’s favorite blanket fell down from his shoulder as he got up, which puzzled him as he couldn’t remember getting a blanket. He must have done in it in a daze.

Bard didn’t know how long he was standing there for, but when he finally paid attention to his surroundings again, a tall, blonde man was standing in front of him. And bloody hell, why the hell did Thranduil look so good all the bloody time? And wait, what. Thranduil was here?

“Bard, maybe you should sit back down”, Thranduil suggested kindly, rolling his sleeves up his arm.

Bard didn’t argue as he sat back down. His boss was here. He left a very unflattering voicemail for his boss and oh God, why did he do that for?

“Why are you here for?”

A pause. “Because you left an unnerving voicemail on my phone and you didn’t sound too well”

“I’m fine, you can go”

“Yes, I can see that you’re fine by the state that you’re in. I’m making you some dinner, why don’t you go have a shower”

Thranduil’s tone suggested that there was no room to argue and so, like a kid getting sent to his room, Bard got up and slowly walked to the stairs, where he stopped to look at Thranduil.

“I don’t want to seem abrupt, but you seem to be a lot nicer to me than anyone else. Is there a reason for that”

Thranduil shrugged blushed ever so slightly before controllinh his emotions. “You’re a good man, Bard. Just had a hard life I think”

Great, well that didn’t really answer Bard’s question, but the father of three would gladly take it. On some level Thranduil probably understood him more than any man did.

“Also”, Thranduil said as Bard reached the top of the staircase, “perhaps you should learn to lock your front door. Would’t want any unwanted visitors”.

If Bard mumbled a “fuck you” under his breath, well, that was his business.

/

It turned out that Thranduil could really cook a mean bean soup. Bard noticed that there was celery and carrot in it as well. His boss was really attempting to get him healthy again. The thought alone made him want to smile, but all thoughts of smiling crossed his mind when Thranduil kept giving him the stern look. Bard wouldn’t be surprised if that was the look he gave his children to make them do their chores.

“You can cook”, Bard stated simply, putting down his spoon.

“It would seem so”, said Thranduil with a soft smile playing on his lips.

Bard raised his eyebrow in question, eating slow as his stomach was grumbling unhappily again.

“My wife used to love cooking”, Thranduil admitted. “She always tried to teach me but I didn’t pay much attention. Then after she died, I learned for the kids”

Bard nodded in sympathy, “I was the same. I never cooked. I couldn’t even heat up water without burning a pan. Once she died though, I guess I had no choice but to learn, although the first few meals I made were absolutely horrendous”

Thranduil laughed, “I doubt it was that bad”

“Oh no! you are very wrong. I tried to make a rice with salsa, but had no idea how to make it. Instead of just looking it up like a normal person would, I just went right ahead and put the salsa with the rice in the pan, meanwhile the rice still hadn’t boiled yet”

Thranduil made a slight noise of disgust. “That is the worst thing I have ever heard. Have you tried to make that dish since?”

“Nope. Sigrid doesn’t even let me go near the rice now”

“Once you’re better I will show you the proper way to make it. A poor unfortunate, soul like yourself must learn how to cook even the simplest dishes”

Bard rolled his eyes, “don’t be overly-confident ‘Mr. I can cook better than you.’ Nobody likes a bragger”

A moments silence, “well, it seems you do”.

Well, Bard thought to himself, he’s not wrong there.

Thranduil insisted that Bard lay down on the couch and not help with the cleaning. Normally Bard would be quite happily to have a night off, but Thranduil was in the kitchen and he wanted to spend as much time with the man as he possibly could. There was something about Thranduil, the way he moved, the way he thought about things carefully before saying anything, the way his thoughtful eyes roamed over Bard’s body, analyzing him to his very core. There was something mysterious about Thranduil, too. He spoke about his wife, but he did  it so carefully. He moved with ease but with some restrictions. He seemed to favor his right side, predominately using his left a lot more. Even if it was just to pick up a folder.

But Bard refused to focus on that for now. He had a feeling that he and Thranduil would be spending a lot more time together. If Bard was confused as to whether Thranduil liked him or not, that feeling had been abolished the moment he woke up to Thranduil cooking for him. He was certain. Thranduil returned his feelings, but how and where did they go from this? Could they even go anywhere? Thranduil was his boss!

“What are you thinking about?”, Thranduil asked as he walked in the room.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing”

Thranduil looked as though he wanted to say something but thought better of it. “You seem to do that a lot”, he eventually said.

“Do what?”

“Get lost in your own mind”

“Well” Bard said, “I….uhhh…didn’t realize I was doing it”

Bard was exhausted and it became evident when he started yawning not too long after dinner, dozing on the couch but waking up in a panic, not wanting to be rude to his guest. Eventually Thranduil got up to leave, but not before kneeling in front of Bard and touching his cheek ever-so gently. “If you need anything, you can call me. Okay?”

“Okay”, Bard agreed.

“I mean it, Bard. And don’t forget to lock your door”

Bard did as he was told. After all, his boss gave him an order.

/

Bard’s children came back today and the goddamn grandmother insisted on staying with Bard until he got better. It’s probably worth mentioning she was very annoying and constantly cleaned and cooked, as well as touched things that were not hers to touch. The annoying woman even dared to touch Bard’s work files! It resulted in Bard yelling so much he got dizzy, and Sigrid yelling at him to “sit the fuck down and relax”. Honestly, where she got that crazy language from, Bard simply had no idea.

By the end of the week Bard was starting to feel a little better. He could eat without wanting to vomit, although he still got a bit dizzy. Thankfully the grandmother was leaving soon, though. Normally Bard wouldn’t mind having her at his house –after all she was his wife’s mum – it was just that when he was sick he simply had no patience. The woman got on his nerves anyway, but when he was sick he simply couldn’t cope with her being here.

By Monday he felt fine, apart from the headache he would randomly get, that is. He sent his children back to school, as they only had two weeks left and Sigrid could not afford to take any more time off as she had exams to take. The poor girl was stressing enough with trying to keep up with all her work online. Bard felt a twinge of guilt at that thought. It was his fault for shipping them off to their grandparent’s house and then getting sick on top of that.

In his spare time, Bard tried to keep himself occupied. He watched t.v, read a book, listened to music but he was so bored. He didn’t know what to do with himself when he wasn’t working. Maybe it was his boredom that tempted him to message Thranduil, or maybe it was the fact that he really wanted to talk to the man, but he found himself messaging the man he liked.

_How’s work?_

**Busy, Thorin is driving me insane.**

_You’re working with Thorin?_

**Yes, at least until you’re back at least. Then you can deal with this insufferable idiot.**

_He’s truly not that bad._

**I don’t know how you can say that. The man is literally the spawn of satan.**

Bard chuckled, _Well, when I get back I’ll gladly take him off your hands._

**For doing me such a favor, I will have to treat you and your family to dinner.**

Bard almost dropped his phone. That was real smooth of Thranduil. _Sounds good!_

Thranduil didn’t reply after that but Bard guessed that his break was over. Still, ten minutes after he sent that message, he was still blushing and found himself reading Thranduil’s message over and over again. He couldn’t believe it! Thranduil wanted to meet his children. Bard didn’t have much spare time since his wife died, but on the occasion that did meet someone they would normally run in the opposite direction when they found out he had three children. But Thranduil was different and Bard was very thankful for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well....I posted the new chapter faster than I normally would. Let's hope I can keep doing this!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard and Thranduil go out for dinner with the kids. Bard observes Thranduil and realizes he is falling more and more for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not updating for so long, I feel so bad. I could sit here and come up with an excuse as to why I didn't update but I'm not going to do that. I am really sorry to anyone who actually likes this fic.

Bard smiled happily knowing that his kids were finally back under his roof, and that he was capable of looking after them now that he felt significantly better himself. Still, his kids insisted on helping around the house, more so than they normally would. The kids took turns cooking; Bain, being the first one to wake up, made breakfast. Tilda would make lunch, (it was always the same thing; peanut butter sandwiches) and Sigrid would make dinner, with the occasional help from her brother.

Bard had felt about his children doing all the cooking, but every time he attempted to help they would just yell at him to go away. It was silly, especially since he felt back to his normal self (almost); but still, they insisted on cooking.   


Feeling much like a child rather than a father, he normally sat on the couch and put on the T.V and went through his emails. His work colleagues had been sending him emails all week and bombarding him with work related enquires. Honestly, Bard was surprised by this. He knew he was good at his job, but he thought everyone else was as well. Still, regardless of his feelings, he still replied back to them and helped them out as best as he could. It was good for him to keep his brain busy as he wasn’t use to doing nothing all day every day. Every now and then Bard would come across an email from Thranduil, and at first he opened it thinking it would be work related, but was taken aback by the content: a cat meme. Bard had never taken Thranduil as a cat lover, but by the incessant number of cat memes in his inbox, it was safe to say that his boss was.

On a Friday morning, Bard awoke to a message on his phone.

**Seeing as school holiday’s is starting on Monday, I would like to take you up on the offer of dinner.**

Bard felt himself smiling, _when and where._

**Tomorrow night? There is a great pizza bar near my house.**

_Sounds good, the kids will be pleased about the pizza I’m sure!_

**And the adults will be pleased. I love pizza.**

_You love cats and pizza? This is quite a new development, one that will probably ruin your reputation in the company._

**Everyone loves pizza. Everyone. And I love cats, but I’m allergic. So I try and cope with that by sending funny cat memes to people I like.**

_Over-compensating because you’re allergic? Nice, I can respect that._

Bard put his phone down and made his way down stairs, clad in his blue pyjama pants and black t-shirt. Bain was making oatmeal in the kitchen and Bard instantly groaned. Bain was great….at making Oatmeal and nothing else for breakfast.

“You want some food?” Bain asked, already dressed in school uniform and ready for his last day of school for three months.

“I’m in the mood for something other than oatmeal”

“Oatmeal is great!” Bain replied, shocked that his father wouldn’t want more oatmeal.

“It is, but I was thinking that maybe I would make pancakes. ‘Ya know, a celebration because you’re finally on holidays”

“Pancakes aren’t good for you Da, Oatmeal is”.

Bard smiled, “So you’re saying that if I make pancakes you won’t eat any?”

Bain opened his mouth in shock and oatmeal dribbled down his chin. “That’s beside the point Da!”

Bard chuckled and fondly ruffled Bain’s hair, much to the boy’s distaste. Bain was only young, but Bard noticed how he was taking an immense interest in sports and eating like an athlete. He reminded Bard of himself when he was young. Although it was quite interesting to see it from an outsiders perspective.

“You ready for holidays?” Bard asked as Bain sat down at the table, eating like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Yeah, I can finally complete Dragon Age!”, Bain replied enthusiastically.

Bard smiled and mixed the batter of the pancakes…and then that was when what Bain said finally registered in his mind. “Young man, if you think you will playing those silly games for three months straight then you have another thing coming”

“Games are important”

“Not as important as you actually living”

“Yes it is”, Bain replied back without a beat.

“It really isn’t. Luckily there will be more important thing’s for you to do”

Bain scoffed, “like what?”

“Chores, sports, spending time with your sisters”

“Sounds fun”, Bain said sarcastically.

Bard couldn’t repress the sigh threatening to escape from his lips. Before leaving for his grandma’s, Bain had been in a good mood and ever since he came back, he had been snapping and talking back to Bard. Now, Bard liked to have good banter with his children, it was fun, but when banter became serious, Bard panicked. Still, he repressed his sigh further and put a smile back on his face. It was the last day before the holidays and he didn’t want his kids to be put in a foul mood.

Bard just finished the pancakes before Tilda came down the stairs, rubbing her eyes as she yawned. Sometimes she reminded Bard so much of himself.

“Hi pumpkin”, Bard kissed his daughter on the forehead and put some pancakes on the plate for her. 

Now, with Tilda and Bain awake, Bard took a deep breath. He had to wake up Sigrid, but she wasn’t exactly a morning person. Bard took the jug of cold water out of the fridge and stalked upstairs. Sigrid was going to hate him for this.

/

Bard was extremely fucking bored. It was only one o’clock; the kids didn’t knock off for another two and a half hours. Bard had answered back to all his emails and now he had no idea what to do. It was in this boredom he decided to put on his running shoes and go for a half an hour jog. Even that was taxing. He had become immensely unfit.

Fuck his life.

/

Saturday night finally approached and everyone was looking forward to Pizza. Especially Thranduil, who had sent him quite a few messages throughout the day.

Bard was nervous to see Thranduil again, especially because the blonde had seen him as his worst. Embarrassment coloured his cheeks and his heart was racing at a million miles per hour.  Anxiety had made a permanent home in Bard’s stomach.

“Are we meeting him there?” Sigrid asked as she stood in front of the mirror applying eyeliner.

“Yes, I think his kids are going to be there as well”

“Sigrid has a crush on Legolas!” Tilda chimed in enthusiastically.

“I do not!”

“You do”

“I don’t!”

Bain snorted, “You do”

Bard put his hands in the air and cleared his throat, “It doesn’t matter if Sigrid has a crush on Legolas. He’s too old for her”

Sigrid snorted, “Pretty sure Thranduil is older than you”

“But this isn’t about Thranduil and me”

“YOU have a crush on Thranduil” said Sigrid with a big smile on her face.

“I do not”, Bard replied back instantly, perhaps a little too soon.

“Holy shivers”, came the voice of Bain, “you have a crush on your boss”.

If Bard’s stomach was swirling with anxiety, well, that was no one’s business.

/

Sitting at the table with his children, Thranduil looked absolutely perfect. Thranduil looked entranced by a conversation with his daughter. When he saw Bard, he let a small smile creep on his face. The soft lights that hung overhead seemed to sparkle in his eyes; it reminded Bard of the ocean on a nice, clear day, where the water is crystal clear and the sun hits it beautifully.

“Good to see you, Bard”, Thranduil said kindly, his eyes raking over the children, “and I’m assuming this is Bain, Sigrid and Tilda?”

“Hi!”, Tilda replied excitedly, showing no fear of a new person and going up to him. “I’m Tilda”

Thranduil bent down on his knee to be eye level with Tilda, who was at least half his height. “Tilda, this is Legolas and Tauriel”

With introductions out of the way, they all sat down and had a look at the menu. They were seated at a big table near the window. Tilda sat next to Thranduil and Bard sat next to Bain, whilst Sigrid was seated next to Legolas and Tauriel. She had a faint blush on her cheeks whenever Legolas spoke to her and it brought a small smile to Bard’s face. He had never seen his daughter take an interest in anyone before.

Bain timidly talked to Thranduil and much like Bard, he stuttered when he was nervous. But Thranduil didn’t laugh, he didn’t even look amused. Instead, he just sat there politely nodding his head and listening to Bain like it was the most important thing in the world to know what a teenage boy is saying. A strange sensation settled in Bard’s stomach and he chose to ignore it for now.

“You enjoy playing soccer?”, Thranduil asked Bain kindly.

“I love it”, Bain replied instantly, “I’m in the team at School”

“The team came third in the competitions this year”, Thranduil said, sounding impressed, “there were over fifty teams competing”

Bain blushed, “well, we trained really hard. If only we came first”

“Well there’s always next year. Do you think you will be trying out for the team again?”

“Definitely!”

“What about you Sigrid”, Thranduil asked, trying to include everyone in the conversation. “Do you play any sports?”

“Occasionally”, she shrugged, “Volleyball is alright I suppose”

“Sigrid tutors”, Bard supplied before the conversation could become awkward. “Tutors kids who are normally failing or very behind in their classes”

“hey, were you the one you tutored Michael Kay?”  Tauriel asked

“Yes”

“He actually passed math class this semester because of you”

Sigrid quietly laughed, more out of nerves than anything else.

“And do play sports Miss. Tilda?” Thranduil asked, smiling fondly as Tilda beamed at the attention being back on her.

“I play soccer in the backyard with dad! And I shoot more goals than him as well. I think he is better as a goalie than on defence. He’s not very good”

Everyone around the table laughed, especially Bard. His little girl was winning the hearts of everyone at the table.

“I also want to learn Archery”, Tilda continued on, “Da knows and can teach me but he says I have to wait until I am a little older”

“I do Archery” Legolas perked up, “it’s awesome”

And just like that, the atmosphere no longer had the awkward tension. It was light and bubbly. All at once, everyone started talking to each other and Bard struggled to talk to Thranduil and hear what the man was saying. Tilda was entranced with Tauriel and kept getting her attention and both Sigrid and Bain were talking to Legolas. They often ‘shushed’ the other one so that they could talk. Occasionally Bard and Thranduil would add something to the children’s conversation, but mostly, the two parents sat there and talked to each other.

Their table was often so loud that people next to them would shoot them looks of annoyance. On numerous occasions Bard would try and apologize, but the apology didn’t come across as sincere as he was wearing a smile that reached his eyes.

At one point of the night, Legolas said a joke that had everyone cracking up with laughter. Bard took this moment to observe Thranduil.

Thranduil sat in his chair, smiling naturally and his body loose with laughter, and Bard realised what kind of man Thranduil was. He wasn’t the boss from hell that everyone claimed he was. He wasn’t just the caring and compassionate man that is willing to help even though he doesn’t know you very well. He was a father, and he was a father that loved his children very much. Bard could tell this from the way he turned his body to his children whenever they spoke to him, as if to let them know that they had his full attention. He also saw it in the way he spoke to Bard’s children. He looked at them clearly and sized them up. He bent down so he didn’t intimidate Tilda, he kept a polite distance from Bain when he could see that the boy was a tad uncomfortable, but he was still frightfully nice, and he spoke to Sigrid with clarity as if she was a grownup already. It had pleased Bard’s children to be treated by an adult with much respect. It pleased Bard, too. Thranduil was a very nice man, a great father and it showed with all his actions. He refilled the children’s glasses with soda or water whenever they ran out and made sure they felt comfortable meeting new people.

“We should do this again”, Thranduil said at the end of the night.

Bard couldn’t have agreed more.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I am already writing the next chapter so hopefully I will get it up soon)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard gets a surprising offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look another update. Yay!

Bard woke up in a cold, feverish sweat. His hair clung to the nape of his neck and his forehead and his cheeks were positively flushed with the dream he just had. A dream about Thranduil. It had felt so real: the way his hands glided through Thranduil’s ridiculously soft hair, the way Thranduil nipped at his ear and held him close as he kissed him passionately. The way their bodies moved together as if they were no longer two people but one entity.

Thinking about the dream made Bard sigh longingly; there was some parts of the dream he desperately wanted to be real. Not necessarily the sex – although he was sure that would be great – but more so spending time with Thranduil and spending time with him. 

_“Bard”, Thranduil whispered in his ear and Bard felt like Thranduil saying his name would be his undoing._ _“Bard”, Thranduil had said again in the dream, and Bard’s body shook in earnest._

Bard touched his lips, the lips that he could have sworn had been kissed by Thranduil. It had felt so real. Bard felt every caress. He felt the way Thranduil’s hands roamed over his body, his hair, his chest, his… _no! Bard had to stop thinking about the dream._ It wasn’t real and it probably would never be real.

It surprised Bard how much he wanted that dream to be real; he wanted to feel Thranduil’s body against his own, wanted to run his fingers through Thranduil’s hair. When he awoke from the dream, he felt a pang in his chest. The dream outlined how lonely he was and how much he craved affection of another. It had been so long since he had anyone to hold or come home to after a hard day’s work. He missed it. He missed a relationship. He missed being able to talk endlessly about everything and anything to someone. He missed having a real conversation. A conversation that flowed seamlessly for hours on end without becoming awkward at all. He missed it all. Hanging out with Thranduil and getting to know him better, brought the feelings of loneliness  –that he had buried years ago- back to the surface.

With a sigh, Bard got out of bed, despite it being only four-thirty in the morning. He had a glass of water and wrote a note to his children just in case they woke up: _Gone for a run._ Bard had to clear his head from the intrusive thoughts. It wasn’t good to think about Thranduil in a sexual way. For all Bard knew, Thranduil might have just been super friendly to him because of his children and maybe he didn’t even like Bard in the same way that Bard liked him.

The air was already humid by the time he started running at five in the morning. Bard was sweating within ten minutes and every step Bard took felt like a huge step for mankind. It was good to focus on something other than his boss right now.

When Bard got back he took a freezing cold shower to try and shake his nerves. By the time he started making breakfast for everyone, Thranduil was just a thought at the very back of his brain. And he wanted to keep it that way.

…Except he couldn’t. Thranduil messaged him.

**You free tonight?**

Bard groaned out loud, his heart was beating wildly in his chest. _Sorry, busy._ He hit send and he instantly regretted it.

Bard wanted to see him, but the thought of it gave him anxiety, made his heart beat too fast and made him feel sick. He couldn’t put his heart on the line when it could be broken again, especially when it could be broken by his boss and make things extremely awkward.

**What about tomorrow night?**

Bard chose not to reply, chose to ignore his aching heart. This _thing_ that was going on between Thranduil and himself was never going to work out.

/

Bard’s first day of work since he got out of hospital was busy. He knew it would be crazy busy when he got back, but he didn’t expect it to be this hectic. A huge pile of papers had been placed on his desk rather messily and Bard spent the good part of an hour sorting them out, placing them into three separate piles: urgent, important, can wait.

It was like he had never taken leave. The office was noisy, people were talking on the phones, and people were at the computers and pulling at their hair. Bard, himself, acted like he had never gone. He settled right back into things and was glad to do so. The day was going smoothly until he received an email from Thranduil.

_Come to my office immediately,_

_Thranduil._

Bard's mouth instantly became dry and he became aware of his beating heart. He caught the elevator up to Thranduil’s office, walked the stairs, walked past the receptionist and walked into Thranduil’s spacious office. Being this close to Thranduil made his nerves bubble furthermore.

Thranduil looked up from his computer. “Bard” he said with a smile, “good to have you back at work”

“Good to be back”

“Now that you’re back I need to give you the paper work for Thorin. It’s a lot of work, but no doubt you will be able to handle it. I’ve also scheduled a meeting on Wednesday for you to go to Oakenshields, you will obviously have to sort some things out and take over from where I left off” Thranduil handed Bard a file, still sitting down behind his desk. “Also, sit down Bard, you’re making me on edge”

Bard did as he was told and numbly sat down at the chair opposing Thranduil. Bard was still nervous, but not as nervous as before, this was partially due to the fact that Thranduil was talking to him like a boss and not a friend.

“There is also another matter that I do need to talk you about. I’m not the only who has noticed the amount of work you do, more so than anyone else of your position. I have been talking to a few of the senior managers and we think it is time to give you a higher position”

Bard gasped. Literally gasped. With his mouth wide open and everything. He was not expecting that. At all. Holy shit.

“Oh”

“What do you say?” Thranduil asked firmly.

“I don’t know, that’s a lot of responsibility and work”

“Yes, but you already do the work. Bard, you put in the hours and it’s finally paying off. As your boss giving you advice, I think it would be in your best interest to take this offer. I see you rising further and further in this company and one day even becoming a manager. You have the degree, you have the brains, I think you should think about this offer”

“Can I get back to you tomorrow?”

“Take all the time you need, just think it through”

Taking that as a dismissal, Bard got up on shaky legs and was about to open the door when Thranduil got up and walked over to him. “You didn’t answer back to my text”, he said in a completely different voice. The voice Bard liked much more.

“Sorry”, Bard immediately replied, hoping Thranduil couldn’t see how nervous he was.

A crease appeared between Thranduil’s eyebrows. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just busy”

Bard left his office feeling like the world’s biggest idiot.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really happy with this chapter but it's important to me that I post regularly now. Next chapter might take a few days because it will be a bit longer and hopefully much better. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard stops second guessing his relationship with Thranduil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I didn't update sooner, life got very busy. But I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

The meeting at Oakenshield’s had gone as well as anyone could have hoped for, especially Bard. Bard had stayed up the night before going over his notes, which were spread over the kitchen table. He was working furiously through the night and it had gotten to the point where Sigrid came down from her room at three in the morning and told him to go to bed.

Yes, he listened to his daughter. Only because she could be frighteningly scary like her mother when she wanted to be.

He had packed up everything and went to sleep surprisingly quickly. He didn’t dream about Thranduil that night and that was the way he liked it.  

/

Bard looked over the terms of the new contract and decided he liked what he saw so far. If he took the position he would be sharing it with Helga. A significant pay rise was included in the position as well as free health-care. It was a job with definite perks. It was a job that Bard seemed to be unable to turn down. His children were all getting older now and Sigrid only had two more years of High-School left before she went to college. Extra money would ensure that she didn’t have to stress out about work or money, only homework. Bain would be next in line to go to college and then Tilda, and college was expensive. Bard would take the job, and happily so, if only to ensure the wellbeing of his children. He would have to go up to Thranduil’s office and personally accept and that was what frightened Bard.

Maybe it was fear of the relationship not working out, or maybe embarrassment, but Bard’s stomach quenched painfully whenever he thought about him. Bard knew he was being irrational about this, perhaps even over thinking it, but a part of him wanted to stay the hell away from Thranduil and prevent his heart from being played with. Another part, as evident by the dream he had about the man, made him long for Thranduil. It was all very confusing.

There was a time after his wife’s death, where he was sad all the time, and developed borderline depression and he also developed anxiety. This anxiety made it hard for him to leave his room and face every day and face challenges. Sometimes, when things got awkward, he would ignore the problem all together until it went away. Sometimes he just ignored anything that made his anxiety flared up.

Bard went to sleep that night with a heart that was beating a little _too_ fast.

Bard went to work so early the next morning, that he was one of few who were actually in the office. He wanted to get a start on the day ahead as well as mentally prepare himself for the talk with Thranduil. In a normal situation, he would just fix his suit, knock on the man's office door and accept the offer, except that it wasn't a normal situation and both him and Thranduil knew there was something more between them. 

 

It was eight o'clock in the morning when Bard finally worked up the courage to see him. Fixing his suit jacket as he stood up and ran a hand through his hair.  _Its silly to be this nervous._ He told himself over and over again as he walked to the man's office. 

“Bard”, Thranduil looked pleasantly surprised to see him at his door, “glad to see you”

“You too”, Bard instantly replied and he was shocked to find that he meant it.

“Are you here about the offer?”

Bard sat down at the indicated chair and linked his hands together. “Yes and I’ve decided to accept it”

Thranduil nodded, “Good, I was worried that you might have refused. I’ll get a lawyer to draw up a contract within the week and you will need to sign it. You will be sharing the role with Helga, but she has shown interest in retiring within the year, in which case you will take control of the position completely”

Bard nodded his head in understanding. “Thank you again for this opportunity”

“No problem. But there is one other thing I wish to discuss with you today”

“Shoot”

“Have I said something to insult you?”

Bard was taken aback, “no...not at all!”

“Then why are you ignoring me?”

Bard sighed and contemplated lying to Thranduil, but for some reason, he felt compelled to tell the truth, “It’s not you”, he eventually said.

Thranduil looked worried, “what is it?”

“Me”, Bard said simply, “I just freaked out” the last part was said quietly.

It was quiet for a moment or two, “If my advances are making you uncomfortable I can stop, you know?”

Bard held his breath, “No, I like your advances I do, and I like you too. I just, I don’t know. You know?”

Thranduil chuckled, “I know”

“You know?”

“I know” Thranduil reaffirmed and took hold of Bard’s hand, “Relax, Bard.”

It was quite for a few moments and Bard took the opportunity to take a deep breath as his heart was beating too fast. He felt like a bit of a fool, truth be told. He had shied away from Thranduil because he was scared of the potential repercussions of dating him, but yet, trying to ignore his feelings for the man was worse. He was denying himself of the thing he needed most: love.

Thranduil started rubbing Bard’s wrist with his thumb and Bard felt like he could have gotten lost in the sensation of his touch.

“Bard, you are still quite a mystery to me”, Thranduil whispered, locking eyes with the other man.

“Unfortunately”, Bard said with a sigh.

“I think we should spend time getting to know each other”, Thranduil said it so happily that of course, Bard struggled to refuse his wish.

“When and where”, was all Bard said and for the first time since dinner with the man, he felt happy and peaceful, almost like nothing in the world could bother him as long as he had Thranduil by his side.

/ 

Of course Thranduil’s idea of getting to know one another was hiking through the woods on a Saturday morning. “To get your fitness levels up”, Thranduil had said in protest to Bard’s groans. Bard didn’t dispute that, he instead complained of leaves and twigs and big branches that had gotten on the walkway. Although, deep down, he was more than happy to be spending time with Thranduil now that his anxiety wasn't preventing him from hopefully going further with the man. The hike wasn’t bad, either. At some points they reached a hill that was perhaps a little too steep for comfort, but Bard stayed close to Thranduil and continued to walk on. His muscles were screaming in agony. 

It was a beautiful day. It wasn’t too hot yet, the birds were singing their lullabies. It made Bard want to close his eyes and enjoy the sound. The trees were beautiful and green and Bard truly appreciated nature when it was at its finest.

“Do you come here often”, Bard asked, watching his step.

“Every Saturday”, Thranduil spoke with such clarity and happiness, as if he was in his element.

“And you’re sharing your routine with me? I feel honored”, joked Bard.

Thranduil chuckled, “It’s a burden, trust me”

“You don’t want me here? I’ll just leave, then”

Bard continued to walk behind Thranduil, following him as he was his guide, when all of a sudden Bard walked into the man. They had made it to the top of the hiking trail and goodness, it was beautiful. It overlooked the entire town, and they had walked so high up, Bard even had a clear view of the beach. Stupid, he felt, for the fact that he never bothered to walk this trail for the entire time he lived here.

Bard sneaked a glance at Thranduil and his heart fluttered. The blonde had a smile on his face that reached his eyes. The sun was hitting his hair and making it seem like it was golden. His eyes were wide open with wonder and he looked as though he had never seen this view before. Thranduil truly looked ethereal. He really _was_ in his element.

“What are you staring at?” came the soft voice of Thranduil.

“You”

Thranduil chuckled before sitting down on the ground and crossing his legs. _It's weird to see him like this_ , Bard thought, _he looks so normal._ Thranduil was wearing track-pants with a black t-shirt and hiking boots. Bard had never seen him in anything but nice clothing. Truth be told, Bard thought he looked just as good, if not even better, than he normally does.

“Has nobody ever told you it’s rude to stare?”

“Never”

Bard sat down next to him, automatically grabbing his hand and holding it in his own.

“You’ve taken a bit of a turn”, came the soft voice of Thranduil.

“How?”

“Well, it was just a couple days ago you kept avoiding me”

“Ahh, gotta love anxiety”, Bard remarked, “but I’m glad I’m spending time with you.  You make me nervous”

Thranduil snorted, “I don’t know if that’s a good thing”

“It is! It really is. Ever since my wife died I’ve gotten into a routine. Get up, make breakfast, drop the kids of at school, and go to work. I didn’t know I was bored until I met you, but Thranduil, you make me nervous and make double think everything. I needed it”

“I’m glad to have met you Bard”, Thranduil eventually said, the sun reddening his cheeks. 

Bard didn’t know what else to say, so he just smiled and tightened his grip on Thranduil’s hand.

The birds continued to chirp loudly and the sun got hotter on their skin, and they probably should have gone back home soon, but no, they sat with each other and enjoyed each other’s company. Bard probably would have regretted staying out here and getting sun burnt if it wasn't for getting to spend time with Thranduil. 

Eventually Thranduil broke the silence, “we should probably get back before we get completely burnt”

And so he stood up with Thranduil, his eyes never leaving the other man.

Bard didn’t know what came over him, but one minute he was looking at Thranduil and the next minute his heart fluttered and he had the overwhelming urge to kiss the man! With his breath a little too loud, he realized that this was the perfect opportunity, so he moved closer to Thranduil. He hoped he wasn’t making a fool out of himself, or that maybe he looked weird.

Bard was about to abort the mission when Thranduil took charge and started moving closer to Bard, closing the distance between the two. Bard gasped a little when his lips met Thranduil’s.

When Thranduil’s lips started moving against his own, panic tore through Bard’s body and he really thought he was going to turn and run away, but when Thranduil put a gentle hand on the back of Bard’s head and the other on his waist, Bard melted against his touch and started reciprocating the kiss as if his life depended on it.

Kissing Thranduil was perfect. It was better than Bard thought it was going to be. It was like coming home after a hard day of work. Kissing Thranduil was like seeing sun at the end of a very bad storm. It was a moment in Bard’s life that he didn’t think he would forget any time soon.

When the kiss ended, Bard and Thranduil were both panting like they had run a marathon. Bard was shaking slightly with the nerves and when he looked up at Thranduil, it was to find the other man staring hungrily at his lips.

“That was…”, Bard began only to get cut off by Thranduil.

“Great....let’s do that again”.

Bard was caught by surprise when Thranduil’s lips met his again, but it was just as perfect as the first one, if not even better.

Bard didn’t know how long they had been kissing, but by the time they got home, they were both red – Thranduil more so - and in need of a lot of water.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, just because Bard has overcome his anxiety in this chapter it doesn't mean it won't be a a reoccurring problem for him later on. I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible and it would be silly of me to make it seem like his anxiety has gone away forever. (I'll try to update sooner next time) Xx


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard is the worst father.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I didn't update for a long time. I was sick for a couple weeks but I am back and ready to write!

There were many instances where Bard absolutely hated getting sunburned, but getting sunburn with Thranduil wasn’t so bad, especially since Thranduil was 100 percent worse than him. Like, seriously, he was as red as a tomato. Bard only had a red nose and a couple of odd tan lines, but that couldn’t be said for Thranduil. Thranduil was so badly burnt that Bard couldn’t contain his laughter as he met up with the man for lunch in his office.

“I don’t think it’s polite to laugh at someone”, Thranduil said grumpily.

Bard chuckled and sat down, “I’m not laughing at someone, I’m laughing at a tomato”

“Rude”

“I’m sure you’ll forgive me”, Bard said as he pulled a few left over tacos from last night out of his bag, “I brought tacos”

Thranduil raised his eyebrow, “You made it”, he said a little incredulously.

“Tilda helped so it may be a little burnt”

Thranduil gave a snort, “Yeah, I’m sure Tilda was the one who burnt it”

“Piss off”, Bard said lightly, shoving the Taco’s in Thranduil’s direction. “Douche bag”, he mumbled under his breath.

As Bard sat there with Thranduil, his heart was lighter than it had been in a long time. He was seriously falling for the other man, and _fast._ It was a strange feeling to be embracing feelings for another man, because for so long in his life, Bard had always denied his feelings for other men. He knew now that denying his feelings was like not drinking water on a hot day.

“What are you thinking about?”, Thranduil asked in between a bite of his food.

“How happy I am right now”

Thranduil lent over the food and kissed Bard on the mouth. The kiss tasted like meat and cheese, it was a bit gross, but because it was Thranduil kissing him, it was the best fucking thing to ever happen to Bard.

“Come over tonight”, Bard said breathlessly, “I’ll attempt to make something nice”

“The kids are all going out, I suppose I could”

“You suppose?”

“I guess”

Bard lent over and grabbed Thranduil by the shirt and pulled him closer, “you better”. Bard gave Thranduil another kiss.

It was a perfect lunch break, one that was greatly appreciated by Bard and would help him get through the rest of the shitty day. Ever since he had taken the new position and signed the contract his work load had increased by a _lot._ Combined with him moving into a proper office – one with a huge window that oversaw the city – he was very busy and it seemed like he didn’t have much time to spare.

That night, Bard worked two hours over time and by the time he was finished his stomach was grumbling and he felt like the biggest idiot in the world because he didn’t finish in time to cook.

It was a struggle to drive the normal speed limit and his fists were white from gripping the steering wheel too hard. What if Thranduil thought him lazy? Or a bad father for getting home so late?  

When he got home, however, he found that that wasn’t the case at all. He walked through the door to the smell of delicious pizza filling his nostrils, and to the site of Thranduil cooking with an eager Tilda standing close to him and observing what he was doing with great interest. Sigrid was setting the table and Bain was sitting on the couch, looking a bit of out of place with the frown on his face.

“How was your day?”, He asked Bain.

He was met with a shrug and a noncommittal noise. Bard made a mental note to talk with his son after; something was clearly bothering him and he had to find out what. But that wasn’t something to deal with this now, so Bard took off his suit jacket and went into the kitchen, smiling when Thranduil showed Tilda how to make pizza dough.

“Hey”, he said and was greeted with smiles. His heart warmed at the site.

“Da, Thranduil is a really good cook”, Tilda said enthusiastically.

“More like a show off”, Bard replied, hugging his daughter.

Thranduil’s face lit up, “you’re just jealous because you can’t cook. Don’t bother denying it”

“It’s true”, came the voice of Sigrid.

Bard decided that denying that he was a bad cook was a battle that he would never win. With his hand’s freshly cleaned, Bard took to helping Thranduil, although he left Thranduil in charge of the dough and toppings, only offering to help chop the vegetables.

When the pizza was ready, they ate in the lounge room with the t.v on, making it a first. It was good though, because it made everyone feel a hundred times more comfortable than they would sitting at the table in silence. Especially Bain, who was worrying Bard with his silence and look of anger on his face.

When they had all finished their food, Thranduil and Bard cleaned up, both were thankful to have a moment alone with each other.

“I feel like Pizza has definitely been in my diet a lot more, ever since we started hanging out”, Bard said casually, his eyes flickering over to Thranduil quickly.

“Pizza is important”, Thranduil replied back casually, accidentally wetting his sleeves whilst he washed the plates.

“Mmm”

Bard bit his lip and continued to focus on wiping, lest his thoughts wander and he embarrassed himself completely in front of Thranduil.

“What’s wrong?”, Thranduil asked.

Bard took a deep breath and before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “What are we?”

Thranduil seemed to weigh the answer carefully, smiling gently, although Bard could see that the smile didn’t reach his eyes and that hurt him. Maybe he had judged wrongly? Maybe Thranduil didn’t want to further their relationship?

“We are two men, two fathers”, Thranduil spoke slowly, “two people who are, perhaps, very fond of each other”

Bard nodded and licked his dry lips.

“I would really like to call you my partner”, Thranduil moved closer to Bard and took hold of his hand, “Maybe you can say the same?”

A strange noise was emitted from Bard’s lips and he laughed a little too hysterical. “Yeah”, he eventually said. He was grateful that they sorted out what they were officially, otherwise it would have played in Bard’s mind over and over again.

/

Bard’s love life was doing better than it had in a very long time. His life with his children, however, was not doing very well. Tilda kept hassling Bard to get a dog, Sigrid kept reminding him that she needed a car and Bain was just ignoring Bard altogether.

To Tilda, Bard simply said “We’ll get a dog eventually”. To Sigrid, he said “Yes I know, and I’ve been looking”, and to Bain, he said “Why won’t you talk to me?”

The dog and the car was just superficial in comparison to his son not talking to him. Bard honestly had no idea what he did wrong and he spent an entire night awake going over his actions for the past few weeks, and honestly, he truly didn’t understand what he had done wrong. He had started seeing Thranduil, yes, but all of his time wasn’t spent on Thranduil. 

One morning, Bard had come down stairs to find Bain in the kitchen, with a wordless expression on his face.

“Bain”, Bard said softly, standing in front of his son. He didn’t get a response. “Bain”. Once again, Bain remained motionless, not even blinking. Increasingly worried, Bard tried again, “Son, are you with me?”

Without a word, Bain turned around and lied down on the couch. His eyes were closed again. With panic coursing through his veins, Bard rang up Dr. Michael. Bain had been off ever since he went away and now he was sleep walking, which was something he hadn’t done since the accident happened.

“Dr. Michael speaking, how may I help you?”

Bard breathed a sigh of relief, “It’s Bard”

A pause, then, “I was wondering when you were going to call me”

Bard frowned, “Why?”

“I presume Bain has told you?”

The tone of her voice made Bard stand up straighter and with a very firm voice he said, “what hasn’t he told me?”

Just as confident as ever, Dr. Michaels said, “Well…he hasn’t come to his last two appointments. The third one he only showed up for the last ten minutes. I gave him the option to tell you before I did,but it seems he didn’t”

 “No”, Bard tried to keep his voice even, “he didn’t”

“Oh dear. Well, is he alright?”

“No he isn’t”, Bard replied back and presumed to tell her about Bain acting very withdrawn and almost angry at him, and then presumed to tell her about how he came down to find Bain sleepwalking.

Dr. Michaels sighed over the phone, “I think it’s best for me to see Bain today and then a family session within the week is most definitely needed.”

“Do you think it is something I did to make him this way?” Bard couldn’t help but ask that question. For some reason, he felt guilty about Bain suffering through this.

Dr. Micheals took a moment, “I think it is a lot of factors to think about, but I think Bain missing his therapy sessions has done more harm than good. Seeing me will help, I’m sure”

“What time should I bring him?”

“One o’clock is good”

Bard thanked her and hung up the phone, rubbing his tired face as he looked over at Bain, who was snoring softly.

It looked as though Bard would have to work from home today.

**Don’t think I’m going to be able to go into work today. Have a bit of a crises at home. I’ll manage everything from here.** He sent that message to Thranduil.  

To Helga, his co-superivisor he messaged: **So sorry about this, but unfortunately I’m not going to make into work. I’ll manage everything from home.**

Then, as Bain slept soundly, he got out his laptop and attempted to do some work. _Attempted_ being the key word, as Bard just couldn’t focus on numbers, or looking over everyone else’s work. His eyes kept going from the computer screen to Bain. Sadness crept through Bard like a terrible sickness that he couldn’t get rid of. He couldn’t believe that his son didn’t feel the need to confide in him, or moreover, couldn’t feel that he could tell him.

Bard felt like he was to blame for this. It was his fault that his son hadn’t gotten to his therapy lessons, or that he had gotten worse. It’s just Bard had been so preoccupied with his promotion and Thranduil that his kids had not been the main priority for a couple weeks now. Bard’s stomach twisted painfully. He had neglected his kids.

Thinking about it, Bard realised how bad at being a father he was. Sigrid did a lot of the cooking and cleaning, whilst Tilda was left being bored all day and Bain, well Bain, was battling an internal battle right now and Bard hadn’t even been there to help! He felt horrible, like he was the worst father in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I don't think Bard is a bad father at all, but that's just what he is thinking*


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bard has a shit week.

Bard locked his bedroom door and sat down on his bed, with his hands on his face and eyes on the floor. His hair was coming out from the bun he made and his face – which he hadn’t shaved in two-days – looked tired and pale. His insides were twisting and turning, making Bard feel increasingly nausea's by the minute. 

_“I’m not saying this is your fault” – Dr. Michaels said to him, “but sending him off with your grandma certainly triggered this”_

_“But I was sick”, Bard replied defensively._

_Dr. Michael’s nodded sympathetically, “I understand that, but then she should have stayed with you and not taken them away”_

_Bard shook his head angrily, “You’re basically saying this is my fault”_

_“No”, Dr. Michaels replied quickly, a hand help up in the air, “I’m not. The focus here, is on Bain, okay? And he is not coping very well. I think he should go back on medication”_

_Bard’s eyes quickly flashed to her, “He doesn’t want to”_

_“But he should”_

_“He doesn’t think he should, and I agree with my son. If medication can be prevented, then we should go with that”_

_“Bain is a young boy, he doesn’t know what he wants or needs”, Dr. Michael’s insisted._

_“He is old enough to know that medication is not for him”_

_Dr. Michaels’s sigh resonated throughout the room. Bard looked out the window and saw his kids looking in the room with curiosity._

_“You once told me”, Bard began, “that medication should be used as a last resort. You said it yourself that Bain is too young for medication. Let’s just try to avoid it for now”_

_The Doctor nodded. “Alright, but Bain needs to see me twice a week, and you need to be the one to bring him”_

_Bard tried a small smile, “Just tell me when and he’ll be here”_

_Bard gave a small smile when he left, but the moment he got out of the office, the smile dropped off his face and guilt and sadness washed over him. He felt like the biggest piece of shit to ever live._

Bard rubbed his eyes so hard that he saw spots. It was basically his fault that Bain was suffering. If he hadn’t been so tempted to get his kids out of the house, then this wouldn’t have happened. He was, without a doubt, the worst father. He was always too busy dealing with his own bullshit problems that he couldn’t even see when his son was suffering.

Without thinking, Bard grabbed the pillow off his bed and chucked it against the wall.

_A woman with curly hair haunted his face every time he closed his eyes._

Bard grabbed the other pillows and threw them over his room, feeling no satisfaction at all. Instead, he grabbed his lamp and chucked it against the wall, leaving a small hole.

Anger and bitter sadness clouded his better judgement and without even thinking he grabbed the nearest thing he could find –his phone- and threw that too.

_Bain lying in the hospitable bed._

Bard let out a strangled scream and started throwing everything and anything he could get his hands on.

_His wife’s body was mangled and bloodied._

Bard ran into the bathroom and started throwing his shampoo and conditioner bottles. Threw his shaver across the room. He stormed back into his room and walked to the photo of his wife. The one where she was smiling brightly, holding a newborn Sigrid in her arms.

A strangled sob tore through his body and he grabbed it harshly – breaking the glass in his hands – before throwing it across the room.

_The first week after the accident was one of the worst. Bain never left his room and Sigrid had glued herself to the couch, crying hysterically as she hugged her knee’s to her chest. Tilda knew that she wouldn’t see her mom for a long time…she didn’t really know what that meant and so, one day, she walked into Bard’s room._

_With innocence, she asked, “when is mommy coming home?”_

_Bard had completely lost it at that and closed the door on his youngest daughter, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap as sadness overtook him._

Bard looked at his wedding room and bitterness filled him like no tomorrow. Why the fuck was his life fucked up? Why the fuck did this shit have to happen to his family? Why did Bain suffer from depression and panic attacks? A young kid…why!?!

Bard pulled back his fist and punched the wall. Then again. And again. And again. He punched it until he could no longer feel the pain in his fist. Then, when he was done putting holes in the room, he stopped. His eyes took in the damage that he had done and then, much like that horrible day when Tilda asked when her mommy was coming home, Bard’s legs failed him and fell to the ground in a heap. Just like that day, horrible sobs racked through his body and he cried. He cried like he never cried before. He was irreversibly sad.

/

Bard didn’t even realise he had fallen asleep until he woke up, surrounded by broken fragments of items that he had destroyed. His face was covered in dry-tears and his hand was throbbing and bloodied.

Bard washed his face, put a bandage on his arm, changed his clothes and went downstairs. Sigrid and Bain looked up as he walked down the stairs and he smiled at them.

“Hey guys”, his voice came out croaky.

“Da”, Bain started, but Bard stopped him.

“What do you guys want for dinner? I’m thinking chicken with roasted veggies”.

Bard didn’t wait for their answer before he got started, humming and whistling along to the radio. Bain got up and started helping him, whistling as well. To outsiders it would have looked as though they were both happy, that they were just doing every day family things, but in reality, their hearts were shattering. It was like they lost _her_ all over again.

_“Your wife drove to her mother’s house, that night?”, Dr. Michael asked._

_“Yes”_

_“How come?”_

_“She wanted to visit her mother?”_

_Bard frowned, “Yes”_

_“And what were you doing while she was gone?”_

_“Working”_

_Dr. Michael’s nodded and wrote on her note-pad. “Work was busy?”_

_“I am an accountant. It is always busy”_

_“Bain told me you and your wife had an argument a couple days before she left?”_

_Bard froze, “Yes”, he said through clenched teeth._

_“How come?”_

_“She felt I wasn’t showing the family enough attention”_

_“And was she right?”_

_“No”, Bard replied, “we had a fight, big deal. Married couples have arguments all the time, especially when you have three kids”_

_“But she decided to go visit her mother after you both fought?”_

_Running a hand through his hair, Bard swore under his breath, “She had been meaning to go for quite some while”_

_“And why did she decide to take Bain with her?”_

_“Because Sigrid and Bain were arguing and we decided it would be best to separate them for a little while”_

_Dr. Michaels nodded and smiled politely before writing on her note-pad again. Bard hated her smile._

_/_

Bard got a few stares when he showed up to work the day after his breakdown. He didn’t fucking care. He didn’t give a shit about anything other than his work. Everyone could piss off, for all Bard cared.

Sitting down grumpily at his desk, Bard logged on and started catching up on the work he had missed out on. He had a few messages from Thorin, demanding that he hurry up and get back to him. _He can go fuck himself,_ Bard thought as he read another email from Thorin stating that he had to hurry up.

Bard run a hand through his hair as anger rose up within him. Fucking Thorin was already getting on his goddamn nerves. Forcing himself to keep calm, Bard replied back to Thorin and forced politeness in his email:

**Dear Thorin,**

**I am deeply sorry for the late reply. What seems to be the problem?**

**Kind Regards, Bard**

Bard then started catching up on his work. He had done some work at home but not as much as he normally would. Under the circumstances, however, he decided to give himself a break and not dwell on it too much. If he did, he would just curl in a corner and stay there all day.

Bard worked solidly for a few hours before his stomach grumbled and he decided to go to the lunch room and see if there was anything good in there. Much to his displeasure there was only fruit, and so he grabbed a banana, made himself a strong cup of coffee and went back to his office.

He ate the banana. Drank his coffee. Checked his emails. Crunched some numbers. Told a newbie exactly how the business worked. Drank more coffee.

Everything was mechanical. His actions, the way he spoke, what he wrote in his email…people noticed his bad mood but didn’t say anything, to which Bard was grateful but also a little annoyed. He didn’t know why, either.

When five o’clock came, Bard rang up the Chinese restaurant and ordered dinner for the kids. He stayed at work.

Bard stayed at work until everyone in his department left. He stayed when the bosses left. He did some work. He sat back in his chair and rubbed at his eyes. He went back to work. Bard didn’t stop working until nine o’clock, when there was a faint knock at his door.

Seeing the blonde haired man, Bard couldn’t control his emotions and without even thinking or without even saying hello first, he started crying. And not the quiet crying either, but the terrible sobs like the night before; the sobs that tore through his body and left his ribs aching and his heart beating painfully fast in his chest.  

When Thranduil rushed to his side and pulled him in an embrace, Bard kept crying. He couldn’t stop. They fell to the floor together in a heap, Bard sitting half in Thranduil’s lap and half on the floor, and gripping Thranduil’s shirt so tight that his knuckles went white and his injured hand started bleeding again. It wasn’t a lot of blood, but it was enough to stain Thranduil’s top.

Bard was aware of Thranduil’s arms around him, one hand was rubbing his back soothingly and the other was on his waist, holding him tight. They were so close that their breath became one, and their hair mingled together. Thranduil didn’t move away, and neither did Bard. Bard just held on to Thranduil as if he was an anchor that was keeping him stable.

He had no-idea how long they stayed like that, but when Bard finally stopped shaking, he moved away. His cheeks were red and puffy. Thranduil’s top was wet and Bard was much too exhausted to feel embarrassed about it.

“Are you alright?”, Thranduil asked as he reached out and wiped away a few dried tears.

Bard sighed and contemplated saying _yes, I’m fine._ Instead, he shook his head and said “no, I’m not”. His voice, like the night before, sounded croaky. But this time, Bard was more exhausted, like he had run a marathon and a half. Much to his displeasure, his body was still trembling a little bit and his eyes were bloodshot from crying.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Bard shook his head, “I will…just tomorrow, I…I don’t want to go through it right now”

Thranduil nodded his head, “fair enough. Come on”, Thranduil stood up and held out his hand for Bard, “let’s do something completely disgusting and get McDonalds”

With a small smile, he replied, “sounds good”. Bard took the offered hand and got up, surprisingly feeling a little better than he had all day.

/

Bard woke up the next day feeling slightly embarrassed. Last night’s events kept playing through his mind, and he felt himself blushing at how he had acted in front of Thranduil. It was embarrassing. After Bard had completely broken down in front of the man, they went to McDonalds and stuffed their faces. Bard smiled contently as he remembered how Thranduil had sauce at the corner of his mouth.  

After they had eaten, Thranduil had driven Bard home. His car was still at the car park, but as Thranduil had so kindly put it, Bard was in no condition to drive. Bard was inclined to agree with him. His eyes were sore from all the crying he had done.

Stretching his legs, Bard got up and looked at the wall he had punched. Honestly, he didn’t feel too bad about punching the wall. He wanted to re-paint his room anyway, so truly, it wasn’t that big of deal.

Bard decided he was going to be late to work and didn’t feel guilty about that, either. The urge to make pancakes was too strong and he couldn’t control that and so, without regret, he spent a good part of an hour making pancakes. He tried and failed miserably to make batman shaped pancakes. He laughed at himself as he turned the volume on the radio up higher, trying to sing his problems away. For a while, it worked and he felt like the man who could handle anything in the world, regardless of all the shitty things that went wrong.

“Where the fuck were you last night?”, was the first Sigrid said to him as she came down the stairs.

“I worked over time”, Bard replied casually and put some pancakes on a plate for her. “Hence why I’ve not gone back in yet”

“Eleven o’clock is a bit ridiculous. Maybe next time you should get here a bit earlier”

“Relax, Sigrid”

“Fuck off”, she replied back casually.

“No swearing”, Bard said sternly and poured more batter in the pan.

“You swear all the time”

“I’m an adult”

“Same here”

“You’re only sixteen”, Bard replied back.

“I’m pretty fucking mature”

“I told you to stop fucking swearing”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck”

Bard didn’t have the heart to tell her off anymore and so, like the good father he was, he started laughing instead.

Eventually all the kids made their way downstairs and ate. With everyone sitting at the table, eating and talking enthusiastically about the next Marvel movies, Bard could almost believe that they were a proper, happy family.

When he finally left for work, Bard felt so light, so happy that he had a genuine smile on his face, despite the fact that he had to catch at taxi to work. Because of his good mood, Bard gave the man an extra tip- because hey! Why the hell not?!

His good mood, however, was shattered when he walked into his office to find Thranduil and Thorin in there. Both sitting opposite each other and looking angry as well as uncomfortable.

“Bard”, Thranduil said so professionally that Bard barely recognised the man from the night before, “We have a problem”.

Fuck, was all Bard thought to himself before he sat down at his desk and listened to Thorin talk. Fuck his goddamn life.  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a shit week, so I thought Bard deserved a shit week too! I'll be updating within the week :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed reading please let me know. I will continue on with this story (only if you guys think I should) so constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!
> 
> Also, next chapter will have more Bard and Thranduil. I'm actually looking forward to writing them two together.


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